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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



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CHARLES BIDDLE 



VICE-PRESIDENT 



SUPREME EXECUTIVE C0UNC;L 



PENNSYLVANIA, 



1745—1821. 



{■PRIVATELY PRINTED.) 




PHILADELPHIA: 
E. CLAXTON AND COMPANY. 

1883. 



h 



/o 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by 

CRAIG BIDDLE, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



COLLINS PRINTING HOUSE, 
705 Jayne Street. 



This work is printed from the Manuscript, in the possession of 
Judge Craig Biddle, exactly as written, with no attempt to embellish 
its natural, easy, and simple style. Having been found of interest 
by the immediate descendants of the writer, it is thought that it 
may prove so to the large number of persons more distantly re- 
lated to him. That the period covered by it embraces the Apieri- 
can Revolution and the early days of the Republic seems an 
additional reason for putting these reminiscences in a permanent 
form. 

The original letters appended, from Burr, Wilkinson, and Trux- 
tun, have not before appeared in print. 

The family history contained in the Notes has been obtained 
from the most authentic sources, and is believed to be accurate. 



JAS. S. BIDDLE, 
July, 1883. 



E R R A T A 



Page 41, line 22, /or 1763 read 1768. 
" 110, third line from foot, for Sanderson's read Simpson's. 
" 13.5, line 6,/o?' Cartaret read Carteret. 
" 31.5, line 25, for 1S09 read 1807. 

" 366, third line from foot,/o?- Shewsbury read Shrewsbury. 
" 370, line 2.7, for Note D read Note G. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

1 T .ttf>r from mother to Mrs. Lux, 2— Boyish pranks, 3— 

"'■'Lrj:::": To" :: rB:.. «... . -a., ,_.e..e.. s_Ke.™ 

"„; „„ .oarL S«ow to ,e.„,.„ .o^e, li-L,euteo»t Ne.m.th take. co»- 
„aud of a Snow ; goe. a. secoud mate m Let, 15-Sails tor Ant.gua and Ho„- 

::::, le-.pp^rmon. ...u™ .o ..nade,,... n, ---;"\ -:: 
„..„„„, an o,d nava, ^-1;^';^:::'--Z:::rr:::::, 

of McFunn: buraiiig of a black, ^i— smpwieciv^ . 

XT- H 1 « with them ^2-27-Fil-st mate to Charleston, as captain to 
rr^r: ndH n::,:;,%S, ^-.^e..^.> »■.«• e„„.>n .„.n ScuU: 
r, e :tepin. sUve.. 3.-E...,k, o. board t.e K.ng Geojge for Ph. a- 
delpWa 176r,85-San. as one-quarter owner and eapta.n to G repada 37- 
ITl: duel at Chlpcoteague, 38-At Lisbon, 1788, nearly sb.pwree.ed, .» 
-Arrives 2aofMay«tPl,i.adelpb,.,«-Sails to ra,al;afrol,e,tl-Pre«.nt 

to b m ealled Bo, Captain, arrives in PMladeipbia, 43-Eefuses to e«r, 
, .Les 48-Sails in the Auu to Honduras and bacit ; narrow escape Irom 

drrning. «-«oes again to Honduras ; trial of McCarty. " eye of .be law" ; 
a„°Is- B nedict Arnold, 4.^Arrives in Pbil.de.pbia; taltes eo,nn,.nd of 
l°pforPortauPr,pee; yellow feyer, «-Sai.s tor Pbiladelplua, =d Fe ru 
Z r770 arrived 30.b ; bet with Hepburn. 49-M.lte, another voyage to 
Por't"! Prince and returns. 50-T..es comnrand of " C'.^nupg Nancy 

. •, ■„ f^r Port au Prince ; French deserters, 5-3— Troubles 

in 1772 and sails affain loi roii au xiiu^o, 

wi.bLncb offlcei, 56-Bcsolves .0 leave off a had habit o str*,ng h,s 
2, 57_28th March. 1773. sa.is for Philadelphia. 58-A ErenCn.an s grei. 
59_S.lls again to Port au Prince ; refuses to haul down pennant. 60-D,fh 
culty ith ;rcnch captain. 61-Hisrese,uhlance to Cap..>uT Allen and conse- 
nuences. 62-S.ils for Philadelphia ; another voyage to Port au Pn ce. and 
sais P ruary,.771. for Phi.adelpbia. OS-Saves DuBeld's sugar irom th^ 
cttol HouJe' omcer.. 66-I.iscovers the robher of Ben. a^ r..s on 7 A 
^ -r. ■ pn siQile in brif Swilt for the Mole, ana rtiurub, 

vovage to Cape Franfois, 09— bails in Dri,, ow 

69^In 1775 purchases part of brig Greyhound; sails to Marugalant ad 
DonLiica, 70-From thence to Hispaniola ; ^Captain Stephen Decatui pas- 
seuger ; returns to Philadelphia, May, 177.), 71. 



VUl CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 

Difficulties with Great Britain ; disorderly conduct of our people, 72 — Shooting 
at a mark with Captain Graydon ; a child struck, 73 — Edward Biddle, his 
brother, 74 — Sails with Captain John Craig for L'Orient to buy powder and 
arms, 75 — A man overboard ; arrives at L'Orient, 76 — Goes to Nantes, 77 — 
Returns by land to L'Orient, 78 — Sails for Philadelphia, 79 — Stops at St. 
Eustatia ; meets Captain James Craig, brother of John, 80 — Detained by 
sickness sails in another vessel for Philadelphia ; dangerous voyage, 80 — 
Arrives at Philadelphia 9th January, 1776 ; joins Captain Cowperthwaite's 
company of Quaker light infantry, 82 — English ship of war Roebuck in Dela- 
ware Bay and River ; ship sent down to attack her; volunteers as seaman, 
83 — Reading of the Declaration of IndeiJendence ; Thomas Paine's Common 
Sense, 86 — Goes to Elizabetbtown in the company, 87 — General Mercer, 89 — 
Judge Allen, 90 — Sailed for Port au Prince in brig Greyhound ; taken by the 
English frigate Antelope, and carried to Jamaica, 90 — Violence of the Admi- 
ral ; is ordered to be put in irons, 92-3 — Base conduct of Midshipman Cra- 
thorne, a Philadelphian, 93 — Escapes and is recaptured, 95 — Again escapes ; 
goes to Nicola Mole, 96 — Starts for any port on the coast in schooner Three 
Sisters ; goes into Beaufort, North Carolina, 98 — Meets for first time Miss 
Hannah Shepard\ journeys to Reading, 99 — Goes to Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, to see his brother Nicholas ; then to Beaufort, and starts home, 99 — Stops 
at Baltimore ; British fleet in the Bay ; then goes to Philadelphia, 100 — 
Battle of Braudywine ; goes to Trenton in his brig, carrying refugees from 
the city, 101 — Mr. Riche and Mr. Kirkbride, 103 — Goes to Reading; starts 
for Charleston with CoUinson Read ; anecdotes of the journey, 103 — Meets his 
brother Nicholas ; takes a short cruise with him, 104 — Fire in Charleston, 
105 — Goes to Newbern to fit out a vessel, 106 — Loss of frigate Raridolph ; 
challenges Captain Morgan, 106 — Notice of Nicholas Biddle, 109 — A French 
adventurer, 111 — Sails in armed brig from Newbern, 22d September, 1778, 
113 — Arrives at St. Eustatia, 114 — Returns to Beaufort ; meets Miss Shepard, 
116 — Marries Miss Shepai-d November 35th, 1778, 117— Meets Mr. William 
Hodge ; his imprisonment in the Bastile, 117 — Passes the winter at Newbern 
119 — A prize case, 119 — Sails from Beaufort 1st August, 1779, for St. Thomas 
123 — Proposed attack on Tortola, 124 — Return to Beaufort, 135 — Narrow 
escape from drowning, 126 — Death of brother Edward and character, 127 — 
6th October, birth of son called Nicholas, 1779, 127 — Anecdote of Judge 
Peters, 128 — Disturbance of Captain Gibbons, 128 — Chosen captain of militia 
company, 128 — Disturbances at Beaufort, 131 — Drives Gibbons from the place, 
134 — Elected to the Assembly from Carteret County, and goes to Newbern, 
134 — Goes after an English privateer, 135 — Returns to Newbern, 138 — Sends 
out Joseph Biddle, son of his brother James, in command of a schooner, 138 



CONTENTS. IX 

— Never heard of, 139 — William, son of his brother James, comes to Beaufort, 
140 — Sends William to sea ; never heard of, l-H — Debates in North Carolina 
Legislature, 142 — Major John Stewart, anecdotes of, 143 — Opinion of the 
Indians ; comfort administered to his brother Edward by an Indian chief, 
144 — Starts by land, with his wife, for Philadelphia 1st June, 1780, 145 — Gov- 
ernor Nash's certificate, 146 — Meets Baron DeKalb, 147 — Arrives at Reading, 
149. 

CHAPTER III. 

General Richard Butler, 150 — Anecdotes of Captain Bowen, 151 — February, 1781, 
son born at Reading ; sails for St. Thomas in brig Active, 152 — Dr. Standley 
and the Hessian wounded, 153 — Fever on board, 155 — Taken by the Chatham, 
Captain Douglas, 157 — Opinion of British officers, 158 — Ship on fire, ISO- 
Lands at New York, 1783, 161 — Samuel Shoemaker, 161 — Jersey prison-ship, 
162 — Goes on parole to Flatbush, 164 — Is exchanged and arrives at Reading ; 
Captain Furman, 166 — Roderick Random gave him first inclination for the 
sea, 168 — Prepares to take command of Friendship, large armed vessel, from 
Baltimore for San Domingo and Mediterranean, 169 — Captain Wilson, ]?71 — 
Count de Benyowsky passenger, 172 — Suicide of Captain Craig, 172 — Sails 
from Baltimore 15th July, 1783, with one hundred and thirty men, in com- 
pany with French frigate Sybil, 173 — Quarrel with Benyowsky; arrives at 
Cape Franf ois, 175 — Sells his vessel, 176 — Count Benyowsky ; purchases a 
brig called the St. Patrick, 177 — Captain Whitehead's case before a judge, 
181 — Sails from the Cape, September, 1783, 183 — Two French women passen- 
gers ; their ill manners, 184 — Arrives at Baltimore, 184 — Arrives at Reading 
with Mrs. Lux ; February, 1783, Mrs, Biddle has a eon called James after his 
brother ; Yankee story ; goes to New York, 185 — His brother John, 186 — Sails 
as passenger to Port au Prince, June, 1783, 186 — Goes to Cape Francois bj' 
land, 187 — Sails from Cape Francois August, 1783 ; arrives at Wilmington, 
and goes thence to Reading, 188 — Mr. James Collins marries Lydia Biddle, 
daughter of his brother James, 189 — Collins & Truxtun become bankrupt ; 
honorable conduct of Commodore Truxtun, 189 — Captain Thomas Allen 
lost at sea, 190 — Elected a member of the Supreme Executive Council from 
Berks Coiinty, 191 — Trial and execution of Welsh for robbery, 193 — Elected 
Chief Burgess of Reading, 194 — Leaves Reading for Philadelphia 20th Octo- 
ber, 1784 ; John Dickinson President and General James Irvine Vice-Presi- 
dent of Council, 194 — Election of Captain Graydon Prothonotary for Dau- 
phin County ; Constitutionalists and Republicans, 19.5 — Octo))er, 1785, chosen 
Vice-President by Council, 197 — Arrival of Dr. Franklin from France ; he is 
chosen President, and Charles Biddle Vice-President ; their election con- 
firmed by the Legislature, 198 — Execution of Elizabeth Wilson for child 
murder, though innocent, 199 — Republicans and Constitutionalists, 203 — 



X CONTENTS. 

Irish brogue, 20.3 — Duel of Dean and Dr. Linn, 20.5 — Execution of an Indian 
and of John McDonald, 206 — Disputes between Pennsj'lvania and Connecti- 
- cut settlers in Luzerne County, 207 — General Armstrong, 208 — Execution of 
two men for murder in Franklin County ; pardon to Mr. Mathias Aspden in 
1786, and of Phineas Bond, 209— Re-elected Vice-President October, 1786, 
212 — Tench Coxe, 212 — Breaks his knee-pan, 213 — Executive Council meets 
at his house, 215 — Captain William Craig, 216 — Disturbance in Legislature 
about Federal Constitution, 217 — McCalmont and Miley forced to attend, 
218 — Removal of seat of government to Lancaster ; reasons for, 219. — 

CHAPTER IV. • 

Captain Craig arrests John Franklin, Connecticut settler, in Wilkesbarre, 221 — 
Society of Political Inquiries, Dr. Franklin, President, 223 — Elected secretary 
to Council, October, 1787 ; anecdote of Dr. Franklin, 224 — Elected member 
of Legislature from Berks County ; declines it, 225 — Grand festival proces- 
sion, July 4th, 1778, 22.5 — Colonel Oswald committed for contempt of court 
July, 1788, 228— Action of the Legislature, 229— The Adopted Sons of Penn- 
_- sylvania ; duel of Oswald and Matthew Carey, 231 — Levi and Abraham Doan 
taken ; their history, 232 — October, 1788, his brother James made Prothono- 
tary of Court Common Pleas, 235 — Notice of him, 236 — Continental money and 
Virginia money, 236 — State Island money, 238 — February, 1789, again breaks 
his knee, 239 — Convention to alter constitution, 240 — Death of his mother, 
1789 ; paper left by her ; notice of her, 240 — Death of his niece, Mrs. Catharine 
Lux, at his house, 1789, 242 — Loses a daughter, fifteen months old, 24.3 — Death 
of Dr. Franklin in 1790 ; his character, 243 — Election of General Mifllin as Gov- 
ernor under new Constitution ; Constitutionalists and Republicans, 244 — Exec- 
utive Council abolished ; difference with Governor Mifflin, 24.5 — His brother 
James made Judge of Common Pleas, 247 — He is appointed Prothonatory, 248 
— Visit to Cape May, 249 — Travelling in N#w Jersey, 2.50 — Reception of M. 
Genet, Minister from Republic of France, in 1793, 2.51 — Vice-President of 
Democratic Society ; David Rittenhouse President, 252 — Dinner to Genet, 
253 — Goes to Long Branch ; engagement of French frigate Ambuscade 
and English frigate Boston off that place, 2.54 — Yellow Springs ; Judge 
and Mrs. Jones, Montgomery County, 254 — Yellow fever in Philadel- 
phia ; sends family to house of Mr. William Lardner, husband of Mrs. 
Biddle's sister, 254— Death of Dr. Hutchinson September 6th, 1793, 25.5— 
Captain Stephen Girard's noble conduct; Mr. Peter Helm's also, 2.57 — 
" Fears of the brave," 257 — Judge Biddle opens and adjourns his court, 
2.59 — Treatment of yellow fever, 260 — In November people return to 
Philadelphia, 260 — Difficulty about excise, and western insurrection, 261 
— Hugh H. Brackenridge's account of the insurrection in western Penn- 
sylvania, 263 — Severe illness, April, 1796, 264 — Operation performed, 265 



CONTENTS. Xi 

—Governor Mifflin, 266— Death of brother Judge James Biddle in 1797, 367 
—Goes to Ballstown and Saratoga, 267— Long Branch ; hears of yellow 
fever in Philadelphia, 269— Major Andre, 270— Yellow fever in Philadel- 
phia, 1798, 271— Stays at Judge Jones's and Mr. Lardner's ; robbery of Bank 
of Pennsylvania ; Patrick Lyon, 272— Has a bill passed making judgments a 
lien for only Ave years, 275— Purchases in 1799 country seat in Islington Lane, 
275— Difficulties with France ; defence association, 276— Commodore Trux- 
tun captures frigate Insurgent, 278— Appointed prize agent, 279— Builds at 
country seat ; Truxtun's resignation from navy, 281— Truxtun's commission 
returned ; Ellsworth and Davis sent to France, by President Adams, 282— 
Governor McKean elected ; Charles Biddle continued in his office, 282— Gene- 
ral Craig ; Marks John Biddle ; Alexander Graydon removed, 283— Governor 
Mifflin's character, 283— Anecdote of family likeness, 284— 14th of December, ^y 
1799; death of General Washington, anecdotes of him, 284— 14th of February, 
1800, James and Edward enter navy, 286— Go to New York to sail in frigate 
President ; stay at Colonel Burr's, 288- Election of President and Vice-Presi- 
dent Adams and Jefferson ; Burr, 289— Votes of electors from Pennsylvania, 
289— Mr. Thomas Biddle informs him of his son Edward's death, 290— No- 
tice of Edward Biddle, 292— Goes to Warm Spring in Virginia with Jwdge 
Jones, 294— Colonel Washington and Colonel Henry Lee, 294— Moves from 
Market Street to Chestnut Street; anonymous letter, May, 1802, 296— Suit of 
Dr. Glenn versus James King for services in amputating his leg, 297— Decem- 
ber, 1802, purchases Chestnut Street house, $9200, 298— James taken at Tripoli 
in frigate Philadelphia, 299. 



CHAPTER V. 

Duel of Hamilton and^ Burr, July 11th, 1804, 302/-Letter from Mr. Van Ness, 
Burr's second, 304— Son Nicholas goes to France, 1804, with General Arm- 
strong, 306— Letter to Governor Bloomfleld from United States Senators, 306 
-Burr and Hamilton, 309— Dr. Enoch Edwards, 309— Commodore Truxtun's 
resignation, 311— Son James returns from Tripoli ; ordered to command 
guu boat No. 1, Charleston, South Carolina, 312— Goes to Lancaster for his 
commission as Prothonotary, 312— Dinner to Governor and members of 
Legislature, 312— Colonel Burr communicates his plan for forming a settle- 
ment on the Mississippi, 31-3- Servant Virgil runs off', 314— Letter from Burr 
announcing his arrest, 315— Truxtun, Burr, and Wilkinson, 316— Leopard 
and Chesapeake, 318— Meeting on the subject, 319— A spirited Englishman, 
319— Mr. Bond, English Consul, threatened, 320— Dinner to Honorable Daniel 
Clarke for saving crew of ship Argo, 321— Colonel Burr, 322— Consulted by 
Judge Jones, 1808, about his son Richard's leaving the navy, 323— Executor 
of General Morgan, 324— Footpads at Upper Ferry, 325— Asked to run as the 
Federal candidate for Governor, 325— Simon Snyder elected, 326— Frederick 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Wolbert appointed by Governor Snyder Prothonotary in his place, 32(5 — 
Proposed chans;e of seat of government from Washington, 337 — A company 
for insuring lives and granting annuities established, 327 — Reason for not 
getting a charter, 328 — Governor Spaight, of North Carolina, killed in a duel, 
329 — Elected State Senator by Federal party ; son Nicholas in the House, 329 
— Application of Bank of United States to Legislature for a charter ; speech 
of Nicholas, 331 — Nicholas refuses to run again ; sons Nicholas and Charles 
married, 332 — In 1811, offers resolution to the Cincinnati for erection of monu- 
ment to General Washington, 332 — Plan for the same, 333 — Attends Senate at 
Lancaster, 334 — Violent resolutions offered, 335 — Prospect of war ; son 
Thomas appointed captain in the army ; son John second lieutenant in third 
artillery, 335 — Chairman of a meeting to organize a company of those over 
forty-five to preserve the peace of the city, 330 — Pockets some resolutions, and 
meeting adjourns ; another meeting, 337 — Row at the election, 338 — Ap- 
pointed commissioner to sign treasury notes, 340 — Seat in Senate contested, 
341 — Takes his seat in Senate ; stays with Captain Graydon, 342 — Son James 
takes command of Flotilla for defence of Delaware ; chairman of committee 
of citizens to build and man gun-boats, 343 — Pea Patch, 344 — Goes to Legis- 
lature ; banks chartered, 344 — General St. Clair's pension, 345 — Debate on 
James O'Hara's pension, 346 — Returns to Philadelphia ; sons Thomas and 
John, 347 — Starts with wife and two daughters for New London ; visits Colo- 
nel Burr at New York, 347 — Sunday travelling in New England, 348 — Visits 
son James on board the United States ship Hornet, 349 — Death and character of 
Colonel Clement Biddle, 350 — Burning of Washington, 350 — Proceedings at 
Philadelphia, 350-51— Death of British General Ross, 352— November 10th, 
1815, account of club of which he was a member ; Major Moore's drinking 
powers, 353 — Goes with family to Schooley's Mountain and Easton ; meets 
General Thomas Craig, 353 — Truxtun elected sheriff, 354 — October, 1817, 
foreman of grand jury ; case of Dr. Tardy, 3.5.5 — 1st January, 1818 ; state of 
his health, 357 — Reminiscence of Dr. Franklin, 3.58 — Summer of 1819 visits 
Schooley's Mountain and Joseph Bonaparte's place, 3.58 — Death of Charles 
Biddle, April 4th, 1831, 3.59. 



NOTES. 

PA«E 

Note A. — William Biddle 361 

" B.— Nicholas Scull 378 

" C— Edward Biddle 389 

" D.— Captain Nicholas Biddle 393 

" E. — Commodore James Biddle 397 

" F. — Aaron Burr — Commodore Truxtun 402 

" G.— Nicholas Biddle 415 

" H.— Owen and Clement Biddle 420 



I WAS born in the city of Philadelphia the 24th of De- 
cember, 1745. My father, William Biddle, was a native of 
i^ew Jersey, grandson of William Biddle,* who came from 
England, one of the proprietors of that State. My grand- 
father was a man of very large fortune. He sent myVather 
to Philadelphia, where he was brought up by Mr. Griffiths, 
at that time one of the first merchants in America. My 
mother was the daughter of Is^icholas Sculbf Surveyor-Gene- 
ral of Pennsylvania. She possessed great firmness, and was 
one of the most amiable and best of women. My father 
was unfortunate from his first entering into business. Soon 
after he was married, he became bail for a Captain Turner, 
in a large sum 6i' money. As he understood he was gouvj; 
off without settling the debt for which he was bound, my 
father took out a bail-piece. Turner had locked his rooni, 
and declared he would put any man to death Avho forced the 
door. As the sheriff and his officers knew Turner to be a 
desperate fellow, they were afraid to go near the door, but 
called on my father, who was a man of uncommon strength 
and resolution. He immediately went to the house, and, 
notwithstanding Turner declared he would cut down the 
first man that entered, he forced the door, when the villain 
wounded him with a cutlass in the right .arm in such a 
manner that it was almost useless the remainder of his life. 

* See Note A at the end of this voUime. ■(• See Note B. 



Z AUTOBIOGRAPIIYOF 

During the confusion that ensued the fellow slipt among the 
crowd and made his escape. For him my father had a large 
sum to pay ; in everything he undertook he was unfortunate. 
Although naturally of a mild disposition, his temper became 
soured by his misfortunes, which at last he sank under. My 
mother gives some account of their situation about this time, 
in a letter to her granddaughter, Mrs. Lux, daughter of my 
brother Edward, married to Mr. George Lux, of Maryland, 
a man who, had he conducted himself with prudence, would 
have been an honor to his country. If Mrs. Lux had not 
died without children, T would not have mentioned this 
letter. She wrote : — 

" I am truly sorry to hear you have met with great afflic- 
tion. If it arises from the behavior of Mr. Lux, as I fear 
it does, your prudence and fortitude must be called in to 
assist you. I am informed that he cannot dispose of his 
property without your consent. If so, and I hope it is, never 
give your consent. It is only making him a prey to game- 
sters, the worst of villains. If he gives them his bond, and 
they should sue him, they cannot recover. When you mar- 
ried, the estate was equally yours, and dearly have you earned 
it. I allow that it seems hard that a wife should deny to 
pay her husband's debts, but they are not just debts. How 
many wives are now suffering the utmost misery by comply- 
ing with the wishes of such a husband 1 I am now writing 
supposing your present uneasiness is owing to Mr. Lux. 
Whatever it is, there is one will never forsake you. It is, 
perhaps, for our advantage to be sometimes afflicted. We 
too often forget ourselves. I was married nineteen years, 
and at times thought everything that gave me pain a dread- 
ful affliction. But when I really knew what sorrow was, I 
looked back on my former repinings with shame. I had 
nine children, one at my breast, when Mr. Biddle informed 
me one morning that he had involved himself and ruined 
me and his children. I was much shocked, but begged he 
would settle his affairs, and hoped he would be better off 
than he expected. We had an estate in Jersey, which he 
.sold for two thousand pounds. He could not see his children 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 3 

without tears. We paid all our debts, and Mr. Bid die en- 
tered into partnership with one Jacobs, a man supposed to 
be possessed of a great fortune. In one year he broke, and 
we had to pay fourteen hundred pounds for him. This quite 
sunk Mr. Biddle. We had very little left. My dear Mr. 
Biddle was taken with a lingering disorder. For six weeks 
befoi'e he died I never slept with my clothes off. The situ- 
ation of my children made me exert myself to provide for 
them. Your Uncle James had just begun to practice the 
law, and this best of sons shared with me everything he 
could earn. Your father, then but sixteen years of age, 
went an ensign in the army. Charles and Nicholas, at about 
the age of fourteen, went to. sea. They, as well as your 
uncles John and Thomas, all were happy in rendering me 
every assistance in their power. I suffered much at the loss 
of your uncle Nicholas in the Randolph, but it was a conso 
lation to know that he was one of the best of young men, 
and died in the service of his countr3^ I am now, with the 
assistance of my sons, very comfortably situated, and when 
I look round me, think I have as little reason to complain 
as any person in the world," 

When about eleven years of age my mother sent me to the 
wharf after wood. Returning along Water, near Market 
Street, to avoid a dray, I stepped on a pile of wood. There 
being snow on *it, my feet slipped and my left leg came 
directly under the dray, which had a hogshead of sugar on 
it. My right leg was nearly in between the spokes ; the 
bone was mashed a little below my knee. When they were 
carrying me to my mother, I thought it disgraceful to cry, 
and she, seeing me brought home without making any noise, 
concluded I was drowned. I was laid upon a table, and one 
of the most eminent surgeons in the city thought it would 
be necessary to take off" my leg. This was opposed by Dr. 
Evans, the family physician, by my mother, and myself. It 
was near six months before I was i:)erfectly recovered. In 
Jamaica, many years after, I felt some pain where the bone 
had been broken, but none since. 

Before I went to sea, few boys were more mischievous 



4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

than myself; two or three of my companions were much the 
same — Robert Shewell, Townsend White, Frank Manny, 
W. Budden who was some years older than either of us, 
S. Hepburn, and Esquire Forman. We were always playing 
some pranks. Budden's father commanded a ship. He told 
one of his apprentices, of the name of Bowen, who had done 
something improper, that he did not believe there was so 
wicked a fellow in the city as he was ; "Go see, you rascal, 
if you can find any one as bad as yourself." He went to our 
companion and told him his father wanted him immediately. 
They went together, and Bowen says to his master, "Here, 
sir, is one that is my match." The old gentleman laughed, 
and told him he believed he had found one full as bad as 
himself. With White I have frequently gone close to a man 
walking the streets and fired one of my brother Edward's 
pistols close to his ear ; sometimes gone of a dark night with 
a rope and tripped up the heels of people. Whenever we 
met a person in the night with a basket or tub on his head, 
.one or other of us would throw it oft'. Going one night with 
him throwing down cellar doors, among others, we threw 
down our schoolmaster's, Captain Stiles. He happened to be 
just coming out of the door, ran after us, caught me and 
gave me a most severe beating. As it was dark he did not 
know me, and I was afraid to make a noise for fear he should 
find out whom he was flogging and remember me the next 
day. 

One day Shewell persuaded me, without much difiiculty, 
to take a very large imported horse, belonging to Mr. Gray, 
a brewer, out of the stable. We rode this horse without 
anything but a halter up to Chestnut Hill, where we both 
had relations, to buy game-fowls upon credit, for we had no 
money. Upon our return Shewell, according to agreement, 
took the horse back to the stable. The Sunday following we 
were in the brewhouse yard, when one of the porters, who 
had seen Shewell bring the horse home, caught him, and, not- 
withstanding all he said about my taking the horse, beat 
him very severely. At this time Shewell was not more than 
thirteen years of age. I was two years younger. 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 5 

One evening, pulling off my shoes, I clambered up a board 
and got into the gallery of the theatre in South wark through 
a small opening in the upper part of the building. Just be- 
fore I reached the opening., one of the attendants of the house 
caught hold of the board, and threatened to turn it over if I 
did not come immediately down. At this time some person 
called to him to let the board alone^^the little rascal has run 
the risk of his neck, let him get in if he can. The play was 
just over when I got into the gallery ; all the actors were on 
the stage. I thought it a most grand sight. In fact there 
was no kind of mischief could be proposed but what I was 
ready to be concerned in. Fortunately for me, my brothers 
James and Edward heard of one of my pranks. They took 
me into a room and pointed out to me in strong terms the 
ruin I should bring upon myself, and how unhappy my con- 
duct made my mother by keeping the company I did. 
Young and thoughtless as I was, what they said made a deep 
impression upon me ; the thought of giving pain to the best 
of mothers affected me very much. The lecture of these ex- 
cellent brothers had an effect on me ever after. I imme- 
diately quit the company of my companions in mischief, and 
associated with those who conducted themselves better. I 
believe the young people at this time are not so bad as they 
were when I was a boy. 

When I was :^urteen years of age, my mother being ex- 
tremely anxious to put me an apprentice to a merchant, I 
went for a short time to Mr. William Ball. Although I had 
not the least reason to complain of this gentleman, I soon 
was tired of this business, and was determined to go to sea, 
where I expected soon to make a fortune, or at least do some- 
thing to prevent my being a burden to my mother and elder 
brothers. However, after I left Mr. Ball, at the earnest re- 
quest of my mother, I went with her to Messrs. James & 
Drinker, eminent merchants that were concerned in shipping, 
and who from the regard they had for the family wished me 
to live with them. 'Not finding either of these gentlemen at 
home, and falling in with a Captain Robert Grant, bound to 
St. Lucar, in Spain, who wanted such a lad as I was, he easily 



6 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

persuaded me to go with him, and I believe now, that my 
going to sea was the best thing I could have done ; nor have 
I ever repented it. The leaving my mother and family was 
the only cause of regret. Grant was a good seaman, but, 
what is very uncommon in a seaman, he was a great miser. 
We went to sea without any poultry, and few stores of any 
kind. He used to say he did not like to indulge himself in 
any luxuries, for he did not know how soon he might want. 
However, I have no doubt that he would have indulged him- 
self if he could have done it without any expense. 

Before I went to sea with Grant, I wrote to Mr. McFunn, 
my brother-in-law, who was then master attendant of the 
navy yard at Antigua (he had been many years an officer 
in the navy), to know if he could get me on board a man- 
of-war. As he was much esteemed by Sir James Douglass, 
he agreed to take me as an acting midshipman on board 
his own ship, the Dublin ; and I should have gone if peace 
had not been soon after concluded. I did not want to enter 
when nothing was to be done. Had it not been for the peace, 
I should have gone into the navy, and probably remained 
in it. 

We left Philadelphia the 10th of May, 1763, and nothing 
remarkable happened until the 3d of June following, when 
at daylight we discovered a large armed ship about three 
miles to windward with Spanish colors, bearing down upon 
us, and an English brig almost within hail. There was very 
little wind. Grant, not liking the appearance of the Spaniard, 
which he took to be a pirate, or some privateer that had 
not heard of the peace between Great Britain and Spain, 
spoke the brig. She was from Jamaica bound to London, 
and, the captain being of the same opinion that Grant was,* 
we both kept away before the wind. At 12 o'clock it was 
almost calm, and the Spaniard nearly within gunsliot of us. 
As the brig had a few guns, it was concluded between the 
two captains, that we should all go on board the brig, and if 
the Spaniard came up with us, to fight her. At 4 o'clock 
she was so near as to heave a shot over us, and then all went 
on board the brig, and fired several shots which fell short, 



CHARLES BIDDLE, 7 

which convinced ns her metal was much heavier than ours. 
It soon fell calm and remained so until about 10 o'clock at 
night, when upon the appearance of a squall we went on board 
our own vessel, and had hardly time to get in our boat be- 
fore it came on to blow very hard. We soon lost sight of 
the ship and brig. About 2 o'clock in the morning the mate 
came down to inform Grant that the Spaniard was upon our 
weather-quarter and coming up fast. This put the crew in 
great confusion, for we all firmly believed she was a pirate, 
and we should be treated very ill. Being then a boy and 
only wanting to learn my business as a seaman, and having 
nothing to lose, I felt as little uneasiness as any one on board. 
However, upon the vessel getting within hail we found it 
was Captain Betson, who left the Capes of Delaware with 
us bound for Madeira. After this nothing material happened 
during the voyage. We arrived at St. Lucar on. the 20th 
of June. St. Lucar is a considerable town, and was said at 
this time to contain twenty-five thousand inhabitants. Five 
leagues distant from it is Port St. Mary's, and here you take 
passage for Cadiz. A few days after our arrival there was a 
grand bull-fight, given on account of the peace between Great 
Britain and Spain. They had a large circus amphitheatre 
with seats arranged one above another- to a considerable 
height. In a large balcony near where the bulls entered, the 
Governor and h great number of the nobility were seated. 
They had procured a number of the most ferocious l)ulls 
that could be found in the Province of Andalusia, which is 
famous for those animals. Before the bull enters the arena 
he is goaded by a fellow placed above with a kind of pike, 
so that when he enters he is perfectly mad, and rushes with 
great violence at the first person he sees. The men who 
fought the bulls behaved with most astonishing courage and 
dexterity. Frequently when the bull was rushing on them, 
and you would suppose they must certainly be killed, they 
would put their hands on his head or neck and jump over 
him. Whenever anything remarkable was- performed, they 
were called to the balcony and money thrown to them. 
!N'otwithstanding all their skill, several were thrown a great 



8 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

height, and three were so much bruised as to be carried to 
the hospital, where it was reported two of them died the 
next day. The fight gave great pleasure to most of the 
spectators; for my own part, although the novelty of the 
fight pleased me at first, I was soon so much disgusted that 
I would gladly have quitted my seat long before it was 
finished, if I could have done it. But that was impossible, 
for we were on one of the upper seats. It was near night 
when it was ended, and the mate, who went with me, and 
myself were moving ofi:', when we were stopped by some 
Spaniards. As we could neither of us speak a word of 
Spanish, nor they English, it was not until a person came 
up that could speak English, that we found they wanted to 
be paid for our seats. We were detained by these fellows 
until it was dark. Having paid for our seats we set off to 
go on board our ship, which lay about two miles above the 
town, but, mistaking our way, we went the road to Seville. 
We had proceeded about a mile when we came to a small 
hill from the top of which we could see the river, and were 
then convinced we had mistaken our road. We determined 
to cross the vineyard until we reached the waterside, where 
we had no doubt of soon finding our ship. However, we 
had not gone far before we were hailed by one of their 
watchmen. As we had done a good deal of injury to the 
grapes, and expected to be roughly handled, when he hal- 
loed we ran, but we were soon stopped by some fellows in 
front of us. They were taking us to their watch-house when 
we broke from them and made our escape. We now did 
what we should have done when we first discovered the 
river; that is, go back to town. We did this now, and, 
having kept along the river, about twelve o'clock at night 
got on board, heartily sick of our expedition. 

About two weeks alter our arrival I was taken very ill 
with the flux, occasioned by my eating too many grapes, 
which I believe has been fatal to many not accustomed to 
eating them. As I had never been sick before, nor ever 
heard of this disorder, I inquired of an old seaman who had 
been Ions: on board of a man-of-war, whether he knew what 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 9 

the flux Wcas. " That I do," answered lie, " for I lay two 
months with it in the hospital at Gibraltar, and never ex- 
pected to get up again ; many of my ship-mates died of it. 
Indeed, very few recovered." While my honest friend was 
comforting me in this manner, Captain Grant came on board, 
and, the mate telling him of my disorder, he went ashore 
and spoke to Mr. David Ferrier, to whom the vessel was 
consigned. This gentleman had been concerned in the rebel- 
lion in Scotland, and was obliged to leave his country. He 
was a very worth}-, respectable man. He took me to his 
house, and treated me with great kindness. I was also much 
indebted to Mr. William Seton, a young gentleman of JSTew 
York, who lived with Mr. Ferrier. He behaved as a brother 
to me, and it was owing to the goodness and attention of 
these gentlemen that I recovered. They dieted me on barley 
broth, which Mr. Ferrier thought good for all disorders. 

When the vessel was discharged of her cargo, we went up 
to the salt-works and were soon loaded. While we lay there, 
we had frequent disputes with the Spaniards about the 
braver}^ of the British and Spanish troops. They would 
allow that no people fought so well at sea as the British, but 
that their troops were better. However, we could always 
silence them by telling them of the Havannah, which they 
had always supposed it was not possible to take. The 
Spaniards are a 'people very honorable in their dealings, but 
very indolent and proud. Captain Hardy, of Philadelphia, 
told me of an old woman whom he had known for many 
years at Cadiz, a beggar ; the last voyage he made there, 
w^hen he saw her, she cried very much, and told him they 
liad taken her son from her and bound him to a cooper, and 
that he was the first of the family who had ever been brought 
up to a trade. 

We sailed from St. Lucar about the first of August, and 
nothing unusual happened during our passage home. We 
arrived in the Delaware the 20th of September. When we 
anchored ofl' Marcus Hook, Grant hired a horse to send me 
to inform the owners of our arrival. I was greatly rejoiced 
at being sent up, and rode as fast as I could get the poor 



10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

animal to go, but, notwithstanding all my exertions, it was 
at least five hours before I arrived at Philadelphia, and there 
found Grant, who was there an hour before me, through a 
fair wind soon after I set off. My joy was so great at getting 
home that I hardly knew how to contain myself. My mother 
and all the family were greatly rejoiced to see me. I believe 
there never existed a family fonder of each other than we 
were. 

As Captain Grant had behaved well to me, the family 
took a good deal of notice of him, and when he was again 
going to sea he prevailed on me to go with him. Had I 
then known the difference between a summer and a winter 
voyage, I never would have gone in such a vessel. We 
sailed the beginning of December for the island of Fayal. 
A few days after we were out, we had a most violent gale of 
wind which obliged us to lay to. About 3 P. M., the mate 
desired me to go below and bring him a drink ; T was on the 
ladder, just going to hand it to him, when a tremendous sea 
broke on board and cleared the decks of everything upon 
them but the masts and pumps. There were two men with 
the mate upon the deck. The seamen had, fortunately, taken 
hold of a rope the moment the sea struck us, and by that 
means were saved. The mate was lost. As he was fond of 
liquor and surly, the crew did not much regret his loss. A 
coop broke when washed overboard, that had some geese in 
it ; they appeared atop of the waves to enjoy very much 
their liberty. A large dog was in the midst of them ; he 
swam to the vessel and we took him on board. Grant and 
the watch below were soon upon deck. We put our bark 
before the wind, and were rejoiced to find she made little or 
no water. The wind was at northeast, and although out of 
our course, we were obliged for twenty-four hours to keep 
before it, and frequently expected our old bark would have 
been stove to pieces. The next day the gale abated, and at 
night it was perfectly calm. The wind afterwards springing 
up from the westward, we made sail and stood our course. 
Christmas day we made the land. It being thick weather, 
and not knowing the land, we stood close in with it, when a 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 11 

boat came off and informed us it was the island of Flora. 
We stood for Fayal, and two days after anchored in the road 
in twenty fathoms of water. This is a bad, and in the winter 
season a dangerous road, being entirely open to the southeast 
wind. The weather was boisterous from the time of our 
arrival until the second of January, 1764, so that we could 
not land any of our cargo, although it was sold, and a part 
of it much wanted by Mr. Gathorn, the British Consul, as 
about a month before our arrival a transport, with between 
two and three hundred of Montgomerj^'s Highlanders, Lieuts. 
West and McKenzie (son to the Earl of Cromartie), of the 
king's own regiment, and Lieut. Bloomfield of the artillery, 
from Quebec, bound to England, had put in here in distress, 
and their vessel was so leak}^ they were obliged to run her 
ashore to prevent her foundering. 

The evening of the second of January it began to blow 
hard, and by midnight increased to a perfect storm. Si'gnals 
of distress were fired from all the vessels which had guns, and 
they continued firing all night. At daylight signals of dis- 
tress were made by every vessel in the harbor. In our old 
l)ark we expected every instant to founder. Grant woul& 
have cut and run the vessel ashore, but was afraid we should 
all perish. We continued in this situation until about one 
o'clock, when we parted our best bower cable, and found we 
were drawing* on shore. The scene now before us was 
enough to shock 'the stoutest heart. We were drawing fast 
upon rocks that the sea broke over in such a manner that 
death appeared inevitable. In this situation we did every- 
thing that was possible to preserve our lives ; we cut our re- 
maining cables, (here every vessel hires cables, especially in 
the winter) hoisted a small piece of our foresail ^o keep her 
clear of the rocks, and stood for a sandy beach opposite the 
town, where we expected there would be some hopes of our 
being saved. Although it blew and rained harder than it 
had ever been known before by the oldest inhabitant of the 
place, there was scarce a person belonging to the town but 
what was on the walls gazing at us. In front of those on 
the beach, when atop of the sea, we could see the gallant 



12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Highlanders standing ready to afford us any assistance that 
could be given. As I swam remarkably well, I was deter- 
mined as soon as the vessel struck to commit myself to the 
waves, and swim for the shore. For this purpose, I had 
stripped myself naked. A young Scotchman, of the name of 
Daniel Carr, who was one of the men washed overboard 
when we lost our mate, swam well, and agreed to follow me. 
Grant, from the quarterdeck, seeing me naked, called to me. 
He represented to me the impossibility of my being saved by 
swimming while there was such a dreadful surf. When he 
found this had no effect, he begged me not to leave him, that a 
few moments would decide our fate, and that I had a much 
better chance of being saved by staying with him than by 
jumping overboard. When I looked at him, I perceived 
tears in his eyes. This and his request had more weight 
than anything he could say about the danger of my attempt. 
As he could not swim, and he knew how well I did, he thought 
it probable I might be of service to him. This, indeed, 
was one great inciucement for me to stay. His countenance 
expressed satisfaction when I' told him we would live or die 
together. We were now driving fast on shore, which had a 
horrid appearance. As soon as the vessel touched the ground 
Daniel went overboard. He had nothing on him but a 
handkerchief tied round his waist, with the little money he 
possessed in it. Twice he was on his feet, and some of the 
brave troops were very near him ; but the undertow carried 
him off, and he was drowned. He was the most active man 
belonging to the vessel. Having a great regard for him, I 
was much affected at his loss. His money prevented our 
ever finding his bod}^, and possibly occasioned his being 
drowned. When we first struck, I expected the vessel would 
have gone to pieces ; however, the second heavy sea, after we 
struck, hove her so far on the beach, that when the sea left 
her she was almost dry. In this situation we dropped from 
the end of the bowsprit, and with the assistance of the High- 
landmen, we reached the shore in safety. Lieutenant 
McKenzie distinguished himself in his endeavors to save us, 
and had very nearly lost his life in the attempt he made to 



CIIARLESBIDDLE. 13 

save poor Daniel. This young gentleman, I think, told me 
he was at his mother's breast when she applied to the king 
for a pardon for her husband, who was concerned in the Re- 
bellion. We were treated with, great kindness by Messrs. 
Gathorne and McKnight, merchants of this place, and by all 
the British officers, most of whom had served with my 
brother Edward, for whom they expressed a great esteem, 
and on his account were particularly kind to me. All the 
vessels in the road, being eight, received more or less damage, 
and two besides our own were totally lost. 

Shortly after the loss of our vessel, an English merchant 
died here suddenly, and Avas buried near one of the churches. 
The Portuguese were, or pretended to be, much shocked at a 
heretic's being laid near one of their churches, and during 
the time of our walking to the ground and putting the body 
in the grave, continually pelted and abused us. Had the 
soldiers been armed, there would have been some bloodshed. 
At the grave there was a dispute whether the head sliould 
be laid to the east or west. This was settled by an old mas- 
ter of a ship, who said, if the head was laid the wrong way, 
when all hands were called, he had only to turn upon his heel, 
and all would be right. We were told the inhabitants took 
up the body in the night and threw it into the sea. 

Two nights after this funeral, the Highlanders were de- 
termined to be^revenged for the insults they had received. 
They paraded the streets, and insulted and abused every in- 
habitant they met with. They wounded some who opposed 
them. Complaint was made the next day by the governor 
to their commander, Captain St. Clair. He requested 
St. Clair to have their broadswords taken from them ; this 
he refused, and told the governor that unless his soldiers 
were treated better, he would give them pistols. After this 
the people of the island were afraid of the soldiers, and be- 
haved better to us. Many of those Highlanders who had 
served some years in America, and with English regiments, 
I was told could not speak a word of English. It was re- 
markable that none of the officers could tire well at a mark. 
They pitched upon me to fire against an Italian gentleman, 



14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

who valued himself much upon his skill. "We hud several 
trials, and although I never at home was considered a good 
marksman, I was fully equal to this man who, one day, took 
some improper liberties with the officers ; but they soon con- 
vinced him that if they did not fire well at a mark, they 
were any of them very ready to take a shot with him, or 
try him in any way he chose. He was obliged to humble 
himself very much to prevent being severely handled. It 
was with difficulty Mr. McKenzie could be prevented from 
kicking him. 

Mr. Gathorn told me that the winter before we were cast 
away, a ship hove to otf the harbor when it blew a gale of 
wind from the westward. She had a signal of distress, and 
was full of people. As the water was smooth, he engaged a 
number of boats to go off to her. They intended to take the 
people out and run into a small harbor in Pico, but before 
the boats could put off, the ship made sail and ran ashore 
upon Pico, where the captain and most of them perished. 
She was from Ireland, bound to America. Those who were 
saved said the captain was very drunk at the time they ran 
ashore. Passengers should be very careful how they put 
themselves with a drunkard. They had better be in a bad 
ship with a sober, careful man, than in a good one with a 
man too fond of liquor. 

In the month of February, Mr. Graham, partner of Mr. 
Gathorn, arrived in a Snow from Philadelphia. The captain 
and he having difi'ered on the passage, the captain left her at 
Fayal, and the command was given to Captain Grant. 
About this time a transport ship belonging to Philadelphia, 
Captain Dennis,* arrived from Lisbon, and took on board, 
the troops to carry them to England. We parted with the 
officers with much regret. The Snow was ordered to Charles- 
ton, and I shipped myself on board of her. It was the ninth 
of March before we left this island, which is very pleasant 
and fertile. By my long residence here in a Portuguese house 
I had acquired a tolerable knowledge of their language. We 

* Afterwards commanded a revenue cutter in New York. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 15 

arrived on the coast of Carolina early in April. Just off 
soundings we lost both our topmasts. This was entirely 
owing to the obstinacy of Grant, for the mate, who was an 
old searoan well acquainted with the coast, advised him to 
take in sail long before he would do it. I was going up to 
hand"^ the maintop-gallant sail, and was just getting into the 
top when the topmast went over the side. Great care should 
be taken to be well prepared for these squalls, for frequent 
accidents happen by trusting that they will not blow hard. 
Having a fair wind we arrived a few days afterwards in V 
Charleston. Grant and myself left the enow, and took pas- a' 
sage for Baltimore, and from thence went to Philadelphia, 
where I had the happiness to find the family all well. 

After settling with his owners Grant was determined to go to 
England, and from thence to India, where he had been before, 
and where, he said, he was sure of making his fortune in the 
coasting trade. He wanted me very much to go with .him, 
and probably I should have done so, but my family were all 
very much against it, particularly my mother. He promised 
to write to me, but I never heard of him after he left 
England, so that it is probable he did not live long after 
reaching India. 

Lieutenant John Lockart K^esmith, who was a half-pay 
lieutenant in the British navy, came from London this spring 
to build a vessel. As he had served with Captain McFunn, 
who had some time before married a sisterf of mine. Captain 
McFunn agreed to take a third in the vessel he intended 
building. They employed Mr. John Wharton, who built a 
snow of a hundred and fifty tons burthen. As I attended 
very constantly to the fitting of this vessel, and was stout of 
my age, I was appointed second mate of her. Just before we 
sailed I was paid for my work on board, and had a month's 
advance given me. As I had not time to go home after it 
was paid me, I sent it from the Capes to my mother, and I 
never disposed of any money that gave me so much pleasure. 
We left the Capes about the middle of October, and a few 

* To furl. t Lydia, eldest sister of the writer. 



16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

days after it blew so hard from the southward that we were 
obliged to lieave to. As the gale increased in the night, our 
chief mate, Mr. Campbell, about eleven o'clock went down to 
inform the captain and to tell him he thought we had better 
take in the foresail. As Campbell was waking the captain, 
the vessel gave a lee-lurch, and the table giving way and 
making a great noise, alarmed ^N^esmith very much. He 
came running upon deck, and halloed down the steerage 
hatchway, "Jump up, my brave lads; make haste up, my 
good fellows, or we all perish ;" and some other expressions 
that showed he was much agitated. These expressions were 
repeated and laughed at afterward by the seamen. From 
trifling circumstances of this kind many a brave officer has 
been thought a coward. There are few gallant men but 
what will on some occasions behave in such a manner as to 
be considered wanting in courage. At that time all our 
ship's company thought him a coward ; but he was a very 
brave man, and a good seaman, that had raised himself by his 
merit. He afterwards mentioned that just as he was called, 
he was dreaming that the vessel was foundering. We had a 
tedious passage ofthirty days to Antigua. We soon discharged 
our cargo, took inballast, ru m, and dry goods, and proceeded for 
the bay of Honduras. One night while at Antigua, being on 
shore in the boat by myself waiting for the captain and crew, 
a drunken fellow, who commanded a drogher, insisted upon 
m}'' putting him on board his vessel. From words we soon 
came to blows, and as he was much too strong, I got severely 
beaten, and probably would have been murdered, but fortu- 
nately the captain and crew came down while we were light- 
ing. They hove the fellow overboard. 

On our passage downi we touched at the Mosquito Shore, 
and hired one of the Indians they call a striker, that is, a 
man to supply the crew with fish, turtle, and maniti or 
paeon, which is excellent eating. One of these men will (or 
would at this time) supply a ship's company with more fish 
and turtle than they could eat. We lay here nearly four 
months, and were daily furnished by this man. The crew 
were at last so tired of fish and turtle that they would beg 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 17 

for a mess of salt provisions. The inhabitants of the bay at 
this time were chiefly old seamen or unfortunate merchants. 
They were very hospitable and generous, would give freely 
any liquor or provisions they had in their houses. In return 
they would expect to be treated in the same manner when 
they came on board your ship. If you did not treat them 
well they never would purchase or sell to you, and you 
would be insulted whenever you went ashore. 

When loading, and Captain Nesmith up the river, a shal- 
lop came alongside with a load of logwood. We had taken 
but a few tons on board, when Captain Wright, who com- 
manded a brig belonging to New York, came on board and 
told Mr. Campbell that the wood w^as intended for him and 
he must have it. Campbell informed him that as Captain 
ISTesmith was not on board, he could not let the wood go. 
Upon this Wright attempted to cast ofl' the shallop, and 
called his boat's crew to come on board and assist him. ' As 
soon as they entered a battle ensued, in which several on both 
sides were much hurt, and George Peters, one of our crew, 
being knocked from the gunwale of our vessel into the shallop, 
had his arm broken and lay for some time lifeless. AVright 
was a remarkably stout man, and after a warm contest he 
carried the shallop oif. That night J^esmith returned, and 
w^as very much exasperated when he heard of the behavior 
of Wright. Early in the morning he ordered the boat 
manned, and we armed ourselves as well as we could, Nes- 
mith being determined to bring the shallop back or lose his 
life in the attempt. She was at this time alongside of the 
brig. As Wright was an old cai)tain of a privateer, and a 
very determined fellow, I expected we should have a bloody 
piece of business, but he had been so much bruised the day 
before that he could not get out of his bed, and we took her 
without opposition. The baymen at this time would fre- 
quently sell their wood to two or three ditierent captains, 
which occasioned much squabbling and fighting. There be- 
ing no law but club-law, the strongest always took the wood. 

We sailed the beginning of April for Curasao, and beat 
for several clays to get up as high as Bonacco. This is done 
2 



18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

by most masters of vessels before they stand to the north- 
ward for Cuba. I do not, however, think it necessiary to 
beat lip to this island, for yon may go to the westward of 
TurnefFand between the N"orthern Triangles and the main, 
or to the windward, if the wind will permit, and beat up 
when you get into the latitude of Cape Anthony or to the 
northward of it. When you beat up to Bonacco, and stand 
over for Cuba, you frequently make the land to windward 
of Cape Anthony and have to 'run down. You sometimes 
meet with a westerly wind, which if to leeward, would be 
a fair wind for you. From December to March you fre- 
quently have westerly winds. In the latitude of 20° 50', 
about five leagues from Cape Catoche there is a bank that 
I have been upon. You will have on it from twelve to six- 
teen fathoms. I believe it is not laid down in any chart. 
When we first discovered the bottom we were in company 
with the ship Sally, Capt. Osman, and it alarmed us a good 
deal. Having never heard of this bank, as it was in the 
evening when we made it, we could not tell the extent. In 
navigating those seas your safety much depends upon a very 
careful lookout, and never to run for any of the islands or 
reefs in the night if you can possibly avoid it. Thousands 
have perished by being too anxious to make a short passage. 
Nothing material happened until we arrived in the lati- 
tude of Cura(,'ao, which we passed about ten o'clock in the 
morning,, mistaking it for one of the islands that are to the 
windward of it ; nor did we discover our mistake until we 
spoke a schooner beating up. They told us the island we 
supposed to be Cura(,'ao, and for which we were standing, 
was the island of Oruba. AVe immediately hauled our wind, 
and inquiring if they could furnish us with a pilot for Cura- 
sao, they, after some consultation, informed us they could. 
The schooner was full of men, and Nesmith was under some 
apprehension of their being wreckers or some ruffians that 
probably would plunder us. He therefore directed me, when 
I went on board of her to bring the pilot, not to suffer any 
other person to come into the boat, as there were between 
thirty and forty men in the schooner, and only four of us in 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 19 

the boat, and we had no weapon with us but the boat-hook. 
I knew if they were determined on it we could not prevent 
theni ; 3'et, as I was then, and have ever since been, of the 
opinion that an officer should always obey his superior's 
orders, be they almost what they may, or endeavor to do it, 
I told him no other should come into the boat. While we 
were alongside several ill-looking rascals attempted to come 
in, but when I told them my orders, and that I would drive 
the boat-hook into any that came into the boat, they de- 
sisted. We understood from the pilot, that the people on 
board the schooner had gone from Cura^'ao to a vessel that 
was wrecked in Oruba. We beat here several days, when 
being in want of provisions and finding we daily lost ground, 
we bore away for Jamaica. The poor pilot, when he found 
Ave were standing for Jamaica, was ready to jump overboard, 
for wlien he came on board he expected to be in Cura(,ao in 
a day or two, and was engaged to be married as soon as he 
arrived there. We arrived in Jamaica in a few days. Nes- 
mith, not being willing to take the price oifered for his cargo, 
stored it. I understood from him afterwards, that it sold for 
one-half of what had been oifered, and I believe it is better 
to sell almost any cargo in the West Indies than to store it. 
The expense of storing is great and the result uncertain. 

During the time we were at Kingston three of our crew 
ran away. I clon't know that Nesmith used them worse 
than usual, but I am sure he w^as glad they left us; for they 
had several months' wages due them. I have known masters 
behave ill to their crew when they had much wages due, to 
induce them to run away. This is certainly a most infamous 
way of saving money. 

We went from Jamaica to the Bay and there took in a 
cargo for London. We were loaded and nearly ready to sail 
when a vessel arrived from Philadelphia, which brought 
letters for Nesmith, ordering him home. As most of the 
crew belonged to Philadelphia this intelligence was received 
with the greatest joy. We sailed soon after, and arrived safe 
after an absence of twelve months. 

During this voyage a circumstance happened that I have 



20 AirTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

been almost afraid to mention, even to my friends, fearing 
they should doubt it, although they never had any reason to 
doubt my veracity. It was in March, one pleasant night, 
when we were on our passage to Cura9ao, being at the helm, 
I thought I saw the apparition of one of my sisters, that I 
had left sick in Philadelphia, pass and beckon to me. It had 
such an effect on me that I awoke my brother I^icholas and 
mentioned it to him, and set down in my journal the time it 
happened. Upon our return we anchored oif the city about 
ten o'clock at night. I went ashore and was hurrying to my 
mother's when I overtook my sister Mary. I eagerly inquired 
after our sister — " She is well, and has a fine hoy." " I do not 
mean our sister McFunn, but Abigail." " My God 1 have you 
never heard that we lost her. It is upwards of si:?? months 
since she died." I found upon further inquiry it was the 
night I thought she appeared to me. She had been a remark- 
ably hearty girl until one night going to a dance, and, on 
returning home, sitting for some time in a damp room brought 
on a complaint that soon hurried her to her grave. The day 
before she died she requested to be lifted up to see the sun 
rise, which she said she was sure would be the last time she 
should ever see it. She died with the utmost composure. 

We found that none of the vessels we had spoken during 
this voyage had published the name of our vessel or captain 
right. The Snow was called the Ann and Almack. Ann 
was the name of Captain Almack's sister, who was married 
to Almack, a celebrated tavern-keeper in London. Most of 
those who spoke us mentioned their speaking the Snow 
Almanack. 

Captain ISTesmith left the Snow in Philadelphia, and bought 
a small shallop to trade up the rivers in the Bay, and my 
brother-in-law, Captain McFunn, took command of the Snow. 
We left Philadelphia in October, 1765, for Jamaica, where 
we arrived the beginning of November. After we had dis- 
charged our cargo, and were taking in ballast, Mr. Campbell 
sent me one morning in the boat to bring a craft that was 
becalmed alongside with ballast. We were discharging her 
when the captain of a London ship came on board. Camp- 



CHARLESBIDDLE,' 21 

bell being in the hold, he addressed himself to me in a noisy, 
rnde manner, and told me the ballast was for his ship, and he 
would have it. Captain McFunn, who was one of the stoutest, 
most resolute, and passionate men in the world, was below, 
and a barber shaving him. Hearing a noise, he called to me 
to know what was the matter. When I informed him, he 
came upon deck in a violent rage, and asked the London 
captain how he dared to come on board his vessel and behave 
in the manner he had done. Not liking the answer he re- 
ceived, he gave the captain a blow with the back of his hand 
which knocked him from the gunwale into the water. He 
very narrowly escaped falling into his boat, which had luckily 
been just pulled ahead. When he was hauled in his boat he 
told Captain McFunn that he hoped soon to find him ashore, 
when he would punish him for his infamous behavior. 
McFunn immediately ordered the boat manned, and, half 
shaved as he was, went immediately ashore. Howeve'r, he 
was not followed. 

A few days after, we dropped down to Port Royal. While 
here, upon a Sunday, we hoisted a king's jack. A small 
sloop-of-war sent her boat on board and took it away. Cap- 
tain McFunn was then at Kingston; when he came on board, 
and was informed of what had happened, he thought b}^ going 
on board and informing the captain of the sloop it was hoisted 
without his knoVledge that it would be given up. However, 
he was mistaken, for the captain of the sloop told him that 
his being an old naval officer made him more inexcusable, and 
he should not have the colors. This was very mortifying to 
McFunn, but there was no remedy. Had he met him on shore 
he would probably have demanded satisfaction. Fortunately 
they did not meet, for we sailed the day after for the Bay. 

Soon after our arrival in the bay Captain McFunn hired a 
black man named Marlborough. He was a stout, active young 
man, about twenty -one years of age, and of his color remark- 
ably handsome. He was a most excellent servant ; had been 
brought up in Bristol; could shave, dress, and was handy and 
willing to do everything. He belonged to one Cook, who, 
after he had been on board a month, said he could not live 



22 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

without him, and took him up the river where he then lived. 
For some crime he supposed the unfortunate black had com- 
mitted, and which it appeared afterwards was not done by 
him, Cook cut off one of his ears. Marlborough immediately 
took a gun that happened to be in the room and shot his 
master dead. He fled to the woods. A few days afterwards, 
as our long boat was coming down the river he knew her, 
and, driven by hunger, he hailed her; and upon Mr. Scull, 
who commanded the boat, promising not to deliver him up 
he came on board. As soon as he sat down to eat they seized 
upon him, and upon their arrival at St. George's they de- 
livered him to the magistrates, who condemned him to be 
burned, and he was executed the day after he was tried. 
They bound him to a stake and made a fire round him with 
empty barrels and brush. Soon after the fire was kindled, in 
order to put him out of his pain, Captain McFunn kicked 
one of the empty barrels that was in a blaze close to his head, 
lie was sensible that it was intended to relieve him from pain, 
and, being unable to speak, he bowed his head to thank him. 
ISo man ever suffered with more fortitude than this unfortu- 
nate black. Our crew detested Scull so much for his breach 
of promise to Marlborough that it was hardly safe for him 
to come on board the Snow. We all thought Marlborough 
perfectly right in shooting his inhuman master. 

At the Bay we found Captain Nesmith, who had provided 
a great jjart of our cargo, and the 28th day of December we 
sailed from the bay for Antigua. We had light airs and 
variable winds for several days. On the 2d of January, 1766, 
we were becalmed between the Northern Triangles and the 
main. At dark we set'" the southernmost part of the reef. 
It bore S. E. by S. from us. It continued calm until about 
nine- o'clock, when we had a light breeze from the northwest. 
We set all sail and steered S. by W., intending to keep that 
course until we passed the reef. At 11 o'clock it blew very 
hard; we were then vmderour foresail and close-reefed main- 
topsail. About half-past eleven Captain McFunn told me he 

* "To set" is to take the bearing by compass. 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 23 

felt as if a mountain was removed from his breast; that he 
had been uneasy at not having anv insurance on his part of 
the Snow ; that he had never gone to sea before without doing 
it; that he was sure we had now passed the reef, and were 
out of danger. It now blew excessively hard, and he ordered 
me to call all hands and take in the maintopsail, and told 
Campbell and myself he intended to stand to the eastward 
under the foresail. All hands were called, and the chief mate 
took the helm. We were just going to take in the topsail 
when George Peters, a Scotch seaman, that was looking out 
from the end of her boltsprit, called out — "Starboard! Star- 
board! for God's sake, or we are all lost." The chief mate, 
who was very hard of hearing, put the helm a-part. The 
man repeating the cry, I ran aft and we shifted the helm, 
which was not done more than ten minutes when she ran 
ashore. "We were going at the rate of seven or eight knots 
when she struck. The first stroke she gave Avas dreddful, 
and if she had been loaded with any other cargo than maho- 
gany and logwood she would have gone to pieces in an hour. 
The second sea that struck her carried her within the outer 
breaker, and fortunately threw her broadside to the sea, 
by which means our boats could live to leeward of her. 
We hoisted them out ; th6 long boat was soon lost. The 
yawl we veered away with a hawser. My brother ISTicholas 
went in her, and did everything he was ordered with as much 
coolness as he would have done alongside the wharf. We 
then cut her masts by the board ; one of them falling on the 
starboard, the other on the larboard side. After the masts 
were cut away I went into the cabin, and, finding the captain's 
chest driving about, I was lashing it to one of the stanchions 
when Campbell came down. He told me it was an unneces- 
sary piece of business,* for he was sure none of us would ever 
live to see daylight. This made me desist; however, as my 
clothes were wet, I opened the chest and took some out, and 
by this means did not save any whatever belonging to my- 
self. About two o'clock we all went into the steerage, but 
had not been there long before Ave found the deck settling, 
and all hurried to the after part of the quarter deck, which 



24 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

was the only part of the wreck the sea did not make a breach 
over. Having lost our long-boat, we had nothing but a yawl, 
and as she would hardly carry us all, we were afraid of one 
another. Having done everything we could, we all went 
into the steerage. "We were sioon, however, driven thence 
by a heavy sea breaking on board which made the deck 
crack. We now retreated to the after part of the quarter 
deck, the only part of the wreck that was dry. "We waited 
with great anxiety for the dawning of the day. When it 
appeared, we saw the N'orthern Triangles,* the nearest part 
about eight miles, and that we had struck on the southern- 
most part of the reef, so that if Campbell had kept the helm 
a-port, as he first put it, in a few minutes we should have 
cleared the reef. He said afterwards, that when he heard a 
noise forward he suspected what was the matter, and know- 
ing the reef must be to the eastward, made him put the 
helm to port. It still blew excessively hard, and we were 
afraid to venture in the boat. We passed another dismal 
night on the wreck. The second day the gale abated a little? 
and the wind hauled round to the northward. We deter- 
mined to reach the shore, as we thought it impossible to live 
another night on board. We took with us a small cask of 
water, a bag of bread, a compass, and a few other necessa- 
ries. There were ten of us, five at the oars, two lay in the 
bottom of the boat, I steered her, and Captain McFunn and 
Campbell were employed bailing, for we took in a great deal 
of water, so that the poor fellows in the bottom of the boat 
Avere almost drowned. Just before we went into the boat, a 
poor English lad, of the name of John Phillips, who knew 
how well I could swim, came to me and begged if the boat 
should sink I would try to save his life. I encouraged him all 
I could, but thought it very doubtful whether we should ever 
reach the shore. We had left the wreck but a few minutes 
when we found the boat was too deep to row. We therefore 
hove over all our water. For four hours we could not tell 
whether we gained or not on the shore, and we made every 

* Off" the coast of Yucatan, in lat. 18° 37' N., long. 87° 20' W. 



CHARLESBIDDLE. ^5 

possible exertion, well kiiovving if we went astern we must 
perish. About eleven o'clock we perceived we neared the 
shore ; this encouraged us, and a little after dark we reached 
it, almost dead with hunger and fatigue, IS'otwithstandino- 
our fixtigue, we were so much rejoiced that we ran about the 
island like wild Indians. That night we spent without any- 
thing whatever to cover us, the next day we built two huts. 
The fourth day, being moderate, I went on board the wreck 
with four hands. We got some flour and other necessaries. 
"We continued going on board for some days, when, having 
fitted our boat with washboards, and done everything we 
could to fit her well, we determined to put to sea, and en- 
deavor to get back to the place from whence we had sailed. 
As the boat would not carry us all to sea with safety, we 
agreed to draw lots. This was a business we did not feel 
much anxiety about, for it was expected if the boat got safe 
those on the island would be saved. If the boat's cre\^ per- 
ished, there was little chance of those on shore being ever 
released. It fell to the lot of Captain- McFunn, Mr. Camp- 
bell, myself, and three seamen to go in the boat ; my brother, 
an old shipmate of mine of the name of Armstrong, that 
had been with me when I sailed with Grant, Phillips the 
boy I have mentioned, and one George Peters, to stay on 
the island. After taking an affectionate leave of our ship- 
mates, on the iSth of January, 1766, with a moderate breeze, 
we left the island. It was with great regret I left my brother. 
At parting, I told him if we did not return in two weeks he 
might conclude we were lost. The breeze died away when 
we were about a league from the land, and continued calm 
all day. Owing to calms and head winds we did not rea«h 
St. George's Key until the 20th, in the evening. During 
this passage we 8ufl:ered very much. We were all very re- 
ligious, everything material was done in the name of the 
Lord until we made the land. The fellow who first dis- 
covered it had just stood up to stretch himself, being cramped 
sittfing in the boat ; when he saw the land, he halloed out 
with great surprise and joy, " Damn my eyes, there is the 
land." We were all overjoyed at the sight. As we drew 



26 AUTOBIOttRAPHYOP 

near the reef we could see that it broke very high, and we 
had nearly perished in crossing it. We kept within the 
reef until we landed at the westward of St. George's Key, 
and Captain McFunn, who did not know how N^esmith 
would receive him, sent me to inform him of what had 
happened. When I went to his house, or, rather, hut, he 
was mending an old sail. He cast his eyes up as I entered, 
expecting to see some person of the island, but when he 
found it was me, he stared for some time without being able 
to speak one word. At last he exclaimed, "Good heavens! 
Charles, where did you. come from ? I thought you were near 
Antigua." I told him in a few words what had happened, 
and informed him where Capt. MoFunn was. He arose im- 
mediately, and asked me to take some refreshment. I told 
him I did not want any, and pressed him to go with me di- 
rectly to the boat, which he did. As we went, I requested 
that whatever he felt at the loss he would sustain by the 
Snow, to say nothing to Captain McFunn about it, for I was 
sure this worthy man was very unhappy both on his own 
and his account, and that he must be very certain the loss 
was not occasioned by want of skill, or by negligence in Cap- 
tain McFunn, for there was no man more prudent, none 
better qualified to command a ship. Captain Nesmith had 
always expressed the moSt aifectionate regard for me. He 
told me that he had been uneasy on account of the tremen- 
dous gale of wind they had soon after we sailed, but he had 
long before he saw me concluded we had escaped it. He 
promised he would receive Captain McFunn as an old friend. 
Although his reception was not altogether such as I wished, 
he behaved with tolerable kindness. I was very glad that 
Captain McFunn sent me, for had he gone himself he would 
not have been so well received. Being extremely anxious 
about my brother, in two days after our arrival I sailed w^th 
Campbell, our chief mate, in a shallop for the Northern Tri- 
angle, The northerly winds that generally prevail at this 
season made it a dangerous and disagreeable expedition. We 
were several times driven back, and I believe if it had not 
been for myself, those we left on the island would never have 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 27 

been taken off. The last time we went out Captain Nesmitli 
was with us in liis own shallo}). Expecting to save some- 
thing from the wreck we anchored under Turneff,* and here 
some Englishmen, who were after turtle, told us that they 
had heard that a party of Spaniards, who were then at 
Turneff, had been to the Triangles and murdered all the peo- 
ple we left there. Although I doubted the truth of this re- 
port, it made me very unhappy, and I requested JS'esmith to 
let me go with some of the crew and bring the Spaniards on 
board, that we might carry them with us, and if we found 
them guilty punish them. After a good deal of persuasion 
he consented, at the same time telling me he was afraid I 
would repent it. The Spaniards were about four miles from 
us. I took three men with me, one of whom spoke Spanish. 
When I told them of the report they all declared that it was 
not true, that the turtlers had only mentioned this story be- 
cause they were afraid of being prevented from getting tin-tie. 
They very readily agreed to go on board with me, and I took 
six out of ten that were on the island. As two of us were 
well armed we could, and would have obliged them had they 
Ijeen inclined to dispute the matter. The wind and weather 
being favorable, in three days after this to my great joy we 
made the island, and soon discovered a fire on it. We anchored 
near the wreck, and I set off immediately after with the six 
Spaniards for the shore, taking with us some refreshments. 
As we approached the land I concealed myself. The poor 
fellows on shore seeing none but Spaniards in the boat were 
afraid of being cruelly treated, and therefore prepared, as 
well as they could, to defend themselves. When we came 
within a quarter of a mile of the landing, I stood up and 
called to my brother and Armstrong. !N'othing could exceed 
their joy, they ran up to their waists in the water to get into 
the boat to embrace me ; it was near two weeks we had been 
absent. I was shocked to see how miserably they looked. 
The water on the island was so bad that nothing but neces- 
sity could induce them to drink it. The island we were 

* I.at. 17° 36' N., Loiirr. 87° 46' W. 



28 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

upon is the largest of the Triangles, and is about two miles 
in circumference. The reef runs near three leagues to the 
southeast. The Spaniards call it the Devil's Nnt. We found 
some cocoanut trees, and a little animal called a guana. They 
are shaped like a lizard, about the size of a squirrel, and very 
good eating ; at least we thought so. They are easily caught, 
for when chased, and got to their holes, they only hide their 
heads. We lay here about ten days, saving Avliat we could 
from the wreck. During this time myself, the Spaniards, and 
one of our crew, had nearly been lost in a gale of wind. 
Captain Nesmith was ashore with the rest of the crew. He 
should have come on board before the gale came on, but I be- 
lieve he thought it safer on shore. When I spoke to him about 
his staying on shore, he told me he knew I would do every- 
thing that was necessary. We parted our cable, and before 
we could make sail were within ten yards of the reef. It 
was three days before we again anchored near the wreck. 
Being all now heartily tired we took our departure from these 
islands the 22d of March, 1766. Having a fair wind in two 
days we arrived at St. George's Key. The Spaniards, who 
had behaved remarkably well, got from the wreck a good 
deal of old iron, with which they were perfectly satisfied. 

Some time after our return from the wreck Captain McFunn 
chartered a sloop belonging to Jamaica to take a cargo 
for Charleston, South Carolina. I was then acting as second 
mate on board a ship belonging to Boston, but at the request 
of Captain McFunn I left the ship and went on board the 
sloop as his mate. I did not wish to leave the ship, but could 
not refuse to comply with any request this worthy man could 
make, especially as he had been unfortunate. He wished my 
brother Nicholas to come on board, which he did immediatel}'. 
This vessel was built at Jamaica upon the plan of the Ber- 
muda sloops, and sat well upon the water, but was one of the 
worst barks that ever went to sea. We left St. George's Key 
the third day of July, and had been out but a few days before 
we were obliged (to prevent her foundering) to throw over- 
board a considerable pai't of our cargo. It was the middle of 
August before we arrived on the coast of Carolina, where we 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 29 

suifered very mucli for want of provisions and water, and we 
were obliged to keep one pnmp constantly going, and in bad 
weather both. We arrived at Charleston the 20th of August. 
After we had discharged the cargo Captain McFunn left the 
sloop and gave nie the command of her, which I was then 
very proud of, although it would have been much better to 
have gone as a common seaman on board a good ship. She 
Avas advertised for j^assengers to Kingston and the Bay of 
Honduras. The only passenger we had was an unfortunate 
black that ran away from his master from Kingston. We 
sailed from Charleston the fifteenth of September. The 
twenty-fifth we had a hurricane, and it was wonderful how 
we escaped. We at length arrived at Port Royal, and 
soon after we anchored I went up in the boat to Kingston, 
and delivered my letters to Mr. Jerman, to whom Captain 
McFunn had written to assist me in anything I should want. 
We called on the man who owned the black, and he pa\d for 
his passage, and I promised to send him up from Port Royal. 
However, it was a promise not in my power to comply with, 
for Avhen I returned to the sloop I foimd the mate had been 
on shore, and the black had made John Phillips, the boy I 
have formerly mentioned, believe that he had liberty from 
me to go on shore, and he went ofi" with some blacks. The 
next morning I called and informed the owner what had hap- 
pened, exi)ecting as the black was old and infirm he would 
be glad to get back the money he had paid for his passage, 
which I oft'ered him. This he refused, and declared if I did 
not find him he would make me answerable for his value. I 
found out afterwards that the black had been guilty of some 
crime. The fellow who owned him expected he would be 
executed, and he should be paid for him by government. 
When this was told me I was very glad the poor devil had 
got oft". Upon consulting with Jerman, he was of opinion as 
all my business in Jamaica was finished, and my vessel cleared 
out, I had best get away from Port Royal as soon as possible. 
Leaving the passage money with him, I set oft:' in the evening 
in a wherry, determined to sail for the Bay the next morning. 
When I got on board, to my inexpre8sil)le mortification, I 



30 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

found the mate and all the people, except Phillips and a small 
boy about fourteen years of age, had left the sloop. The 
mate gave Phillips a letter for me in which he expressed sor- 
row for leaving me, but declared he did not think it safe to 
proceed to sea in such a vessel. Except a negro lad there 
were only two boys belonging to the sloop. In the night 
Jerman sent me word that the owner of the black who had 
run away intended to send the water bailiff after me. Upon 
this I was resolved to leave Port Royal early in the morning. 
As soon as it was daylight I went ashore to get hands to go 
the voyage, for with those on board we could not weigh the 
anchor. I could lind none that would go the voyage. I there- 
fore hired a few blacks to get up our anchor and make sail. 
Before we could do this I saw a boat, in which I supposed was 
the water bailiff, coming down from Kingston. Being deter- 
mined not to be taken, if I could possibly prevent it, I ai'med 
the two boys and negro with handspikes and the fish-gig, 
keeping a good pair of pistols myself. They stood after us 
for some time, but having a good land breeze they gave 
over the chase and stood for Kingston. As it would have 
given me pain to have wounded any of the men in the boat, 
I was much pleased when they gave over the chase. The 
wind was fair for four days when we made the island of 
'Bonaco, and I flattered myself that in a few days we should 
get to the -Bay, and be rid of our miserable bark, but before 
night the wind shifted to the westward, and ble\\' with such 
violence that we were obliged to heave to. The wind for 
near three weeks continued blowing from the westward, 
during which time we were almost dead with hunger and 
fatigue. Everything was in bad order, we frequently had 
four, sometimes five, feet of water in the hold before we could 
get the pumps to work, and several times owing to the bad- 
ness of the pumps we expected to founder. That day three 
weeks we were driven from Bonaco, we again made it. We 
had a fresh gale at northeast, Avith thick hazy w^eather, so 
that we were very near the island before we discovered it. 
Although I had never been in the harbor, and it blew too 
hard for a boat to come off, I %\as determined to attempt 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 31 

getting in, and went to the masthead where I could see all 
the shoals, and soon carried her into the harhor. We found 
here a brig belonging to New York, one Johnson, Master, and 
three or four small vessels who had come here from the Mos- 
quito shore to shelter themselves from the north winds which 
had been blowing for some time on that coast. Soon after 
we anchored the boat was hoisted out, and we went on shore. 
There was no inhabitant on the island at this time but one 
old Frenchman, who lived by fishing and hunting. The 
morning of our arrival he had shot a wild hog, a part of 
which I purchased of him, and it was the most delicious food 
I ever tasted. The island lies but a few leagues from the 
Mosquito shore, has an excellent harbor, and there is great 
plenty of fish and turtle to be caught here; and the woods 
abound with wild hogs. As the island is pleasantly situated, 
and, I believe, healthy, it is surprising there are not many 
settlers on it. We lay here three days, when the wind being 
favorable, we stood to the westward. We had light winds, 
and it was not until the next day that we were able to take 
our departure from the west end of Ruatan. The next night 
we anchored at Key Bokell. The same night a ship from 
New York, commanded by Wright, whom I formerly men- 
tioned as abusing Mr. Campbell, the chief mate of Nesmith, 
arrived ; on board this ship was Mr. Stacy Hepburn, an old, 
intimate friend* of mine. He was going to the Bay to pur- 
chase a cargo for a ship belonging to Philadelphia, which 
was to leave Jamaica soon after him. I was greatly rejoiced 
at meeting this worthy friend, who came on board as soon as 
he understood I commanded the sloop. He brought plenty 
of stores with him, and having some difference with Wright, 
he continued with me until we came to anchor at St. George's 
Key. Owing to the wind being to the northward, I was 
under the necessity of anchoring near the River Belize, and 
I went from there in my boat to St. George's Key, to inform 
the owner of the sloop of my arrival. It was a mortifying 
circumstance to him, for she was insured in Jamaica much 
above her value. He let me know in pretty plain terms that 
he wished her lost before she reached St. George's Key, and 



32 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

hinted lie would make it worth my while if I would run her 
ashore. I told him he was a villain, and should have exposed 
him in the Bay but that he was poor and sick. I brought 
the sloop safe to St. George's Bay, and delivered her up. 
Upon examining her, the carpenter declared her unfit for sea, 
and they were surprised at her getting safe from Jamaica. 

I had not been long in the Bay before Captain McFunn 
arrived from Jamaica. After he came to anchor, he went 
ashore in Captain McCarty's boat, who was here in a sloop 
belonging to Philadelphia. When rowing for the shore he 
inquired of McCarty what sloop it was lying aground near 
the shore. McCarty asked if he did not remember his old 
sloop — that it was the Kingston, that Charles came in. He 
told me after Avards he never in his life was more rejoiced, for 
there were several vessels in Jamaica that had left the Bay 
three or four weeks after we sailed from Port Royal, and 
he had little doubt but I was lost, and on his arrival was 
afraid to inquire for me. I found, in the Bay, Mr. John Scull, 
a cousin of mine. He was a young man that left Philadel- 
phia with a small adventure, and came to the Bay in hopes 
of making his fortune. He had been persuaded to go up a 
river called by the English New River,* by the Spaniards, Rio 
Mort. The bank of this river, near the mouth of it, was so 
sickly, that the Spaniards said a child was never raised there 
to the age of nine years. My cousin being very anxious I 

* New River is one of tlie numerous rivers of Belize or Britisli Hondu- 
ras, and empties into the Bay of Honduras at about IS^'-* N. USt. George's 
is a small fortified island ofl' the harbor of Belize, at the mouth of Belize 
River, in 11'^ 29' N., 88^ 12' W. The settlements along the north shore of 
Honduras proper, the Bay Islands, and the Belize Coast (commonly called 
British Honduras), were at this time greatly resorted to for their valuable 
woods, and were, in nautical phrase, all comprehended in the term "The 
Bay." The English, as early as 1674, had formed settlements about the 
Belize (see Dampier's Voyages), from which they have never since wholly 
receded, though often attacked by the Spaniards. 

The Bay Islands (Roatan, Bonaco, etc.) were seized by the English in 
1742, and were occupied by them during the period embraced in this narra- 
tive. The whole region was in a lawless condition, perhaps not unlike some 
i'rontier parts of our own Western country. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 33 

slioiild accompany him up the river, and having suffered so 
much at sea lately, I agreed to go with him. We went up 
the river in a craft helonging to my old commander, ISTesmith, 
who had a settlement a great many miles up this river, where 
he lived retired, with a woman he brought from Philadelphia. 
After staying a few days at his settlement, we left him, in 
order to go up a creek called Irish Creek, where, we were in- 
formed, the land was good, and that there was plenty of 
mahogany and logwood near the hanks. We had all our 
fortune in this canoe. It consisted of an old negro man we 
called Friday, who was a much greater trouble than profit to 
us, a barrel of flour, a cask of pork, an old musket, a pair of 
pistols, and a few other trifling articles, the whole not worth 
twenty guineas. We proceeded, I believe, thirty miles up 
the creek before we met with a place that suited vis. At last 
reaching a high bank we determined to fix ourselves. Scull, 
being bred in the country, and a good axeman, soon cut down 
us much timber as built us a house, which in this country is 
soon built, four small, forked trees, with a few poles laid on 
the top and covered with plantain leaves, being all that is 
necessary. This will keep out the rain, and we were in no 
danger of house-breakers. We had no household furniture 
but what we made ourselves, except a tin mug and an iron pot, 
and this last had but one leg, and there was a small hole in 
the bottom. However, with this we were contented, which 
is a happiness seldom, I believe, found in a palace. Our situa- 
tion reminded me of a saying of one of the ancient philoso- 
phers, when going through a fair : " What a number of things 
are here that I do not want." We continued to work hard 
for two months, when we paid a visit to our friend I^esmith. 
During these two months we had not seen a human creature 
but ourselves, and to human creatures Ave had not much re- 
semblance, being almost naked, and in all that time had never 
shaved. I^esmith was very comfortably situated, having 
almost every convenience of life, and five or six negroes that 
cut him a great deal of wood. While on this visit, I liad 
ncarjy been lost. Having taken a gun, in the morning about 
nine o'clock, I went into the woods after game. It was a 
3 



34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

clear day, and I knew the river could be easily found by 
taking notice of the sun. I went in pursuit of game a con- 
siderable distance in the woods ; towards noon it became 
cloudy, when I thought it necessary to return. About one 
o'clock it began to rain. Continuing on for the river, as 
I thought, as it grew dark I did not know which way to 
go. It now rained hard, and as it was in vain for me to 
fatigue mj^self by endeavoring to get out of the woods, I sat 
down on a log and began to think I should perish in the 
woods, as several liad before, who, like me, had gone a gun- 
ning. After being in this melancholy situation about an 
hour, I heard a bell. Roused by this agreeable sound I fired 
my gun, which, as well as my ammunition, I took care to 
keep dry. Soon after I heard the bell much plainer. It 
sounded pleasanter than any music I had ever heard. Having 
good lungs I sang out with a loud voice, which some of the 
party hearing they answered. Soon after my friends N^esmith 
and Scull appeared. They had been uneasy at my long stay, 
and had, with some negroes, come into the woods to look for 
me. It happened we were not far from the house. This 
adventure made me cautious of going into the woods. 

After staying a few days with Captain ISTesmith we returned 
to our habitation, where we were received with great joy by 
old Friday, who expected we never intended to return. Want 
of society soon made us tired of our plantation, and we deter- 
mined to proceed down the river. We put our little property 
in a craft and sailed for St. George's Key. We left our old 
negro with Captain !N^esmith, who promised and I knew would 
take care of him. Had he been young we would have given 
him his freedom, for I was always averse to keeping of slaves. 
In the Bay the blacks are treated much better than in the 
islands, their masters being afraid of their running away to 
the Spaniards. They allow them Friday and Saturday, and 
many of them that are industrious make a good deal of money, 
and all are well fed and comfortably clothed. 

When we arrived at St. George's Key we disposed of our 
wood, and, having divided our stock, I was about entering 
on board a ship belonging to Liverpool. The captain of the 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 35 

ship, having buried his mate a few days before we arrived at 
the Key, ottered and j)ressed me to accept of the berth, but 
my friend Hepburn, being at this time about leaving the Bay, 
Avas anxious I should go to Philadelphia with him. At this 
time my returning home was so much a matter of indifterence 
to me that I tossed up, whether I would go in the ship to 
Liverpool or return with Hepburn, when, it happening to turn 
up for my returning to Philadelphia, I went immediately on 
board with Hepburn. The ship we were going in was called 
the King George, one Henry Dunn, master, belonging to 
Philadelphia. He was an old man, a good seaman, but much 
addicted to liquor. The ship was a very old one, in which my 
friend Campbell had served his apprenticeship with Captain 
Charles Stuart. He often mentioned that during the rebel- 
lion of 1745, they were hailed going up to Leith, " What 
ship is that?" "The King George." "Who commands her?" 
" Charles Stuart," " Oh 1" says the man that hailed, " T wish 
to God it was true, that Charles Stuart commanded King 
George." We left the Bay the beginning of February, 1767. 
Besides Mr. Hepburn, there was a Mr. Crisp, passenger. We 
had a good deal of blustering weather, but nothing remark- 
able happened until we reached the north side of Cuba and 
had beat up near the Havannah. Here we had a gale of wind 
from the X. W. and stood with a press of sail to the east- 
ward. The n^xt day, the wind hauling round to the east- 
ward, we stood to the southward, to make the land. When 
we drew near it, I perceived we were above the Matanza.s, 
which is the usual place for vessels to take their departure 
from that are bound through the Gulf of Florida. I told 
Captain Dunn we had better run to the westward till we 
made the Matanzas, but he would not, and declared he would 
stand to the northward. I knew in the night we must get 
upon some of the keys, or the Bahama Bank. Accordingly, 
about ten o'clock at night, all hands were called, the bottom 
being plain to be seen under the sliip. She was immediately 
put about. While in stays, I hove the lead, and found we 
were in five fathoms. At first, Captain Dunn appeared much 
alarmed, but having taken a drop of comfort, he was deter- 



36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

mined to put about again and stand to the N. W. This he 
did, and I believe we ran for thirty-five hours over the bank. 
The weather was fine, and as we had two good boats, and 
there M^as no danger of our lives, I was perfectly indifterent 
about the loss of the ship. However, we got safe over into 
the Gulf. We had a favorable wind from this time till the 
sixteenth of March, when we had a gale of wind from the 
S, E. We were then, by our reckoning, a little to the south- 
ward of Cape Hatteras, and not more than fifteen leagues 
from the land. One of our pumps was continually at work, 
and could hardly keep her free. Towards night the gale in- 
creased. The ship was very deep, being full of logwood and 
mahogany in the hold, and several large pieces of mahogany 
on deck. As I knew this must strain her very much, I told 
Mr. Wright, the chief mate, that the ship would be much 
eased if we were rid of those pieces, in which he agreeing, 
we cut the lashings and were soon clear of them. The morn- 
ing of the seventeenth it blew very violent. At 9 A. M., the 
foresheet gave way. Captain Dunn was then standing in the 
companion. Instead of having the sail clewed up, he ordered 
the helm up, and put her before the wind. Being up most 
part of the night, I was at this time fast asleep. The passen- 
gers, Hepburn and Crisp, were much terrified — they begged 
me to go up on deck. I found her before the wind, and the 
foresail blowing to ribbons. Dunn was standing, drunk, 
upon the companion ladder. I persuaded him to go below, 
and then directed the ship to be hove to. When she was 
brought to, I went first upon the foreyard, to hand what re- 
mained of the foresail. The crew were so fatigued with 
pumping, and being all night wet, that it was with great 
difliculty I could get as many up as were suificicnt to hand 
the sail. Hepburn and Crisp, who were looking up, told me 
they never expected to see me come down alive. As I was 
upon the lee yard-arm, they thought the sea or sail would 
carry me overboard. They both caught me in their arms 
when I did come doAvn, calling me their preserver. I, how- 
ever, had exerted m3\self at least as much on my own account 
as theirs. It blow with o-reat violence till about 4 P. M., 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 37 

when in a heavy squall it shifted to the S. W. The hardest 
gales we have on the coast of America are from the S, E., but 
they seldom last long. The wind continuing from the S. W., 
in a few days we arrived safe at Philadelphia. On the pas- 
sage, Hepburn and myself broke out with what the people 
of Honduras call the Bay scrub, which is a very bad kind of 
itch. We both broke out at the same time. He accused me, 
and I him, of having tirst had it. We rubbed ourselves for 
three nights with tallow and brimstone, drinking, at the same 
time, warm tea. This effectually cured us of this trouble, 
which may truly be called a vile disorder. To my great joy, 
upon going home, I found my mother and family well. Cap- 
tain Dunn wanted me to go as his mate to Ireland, but I had 
enough of him during our passage from the Bay. The ship 
was never heard of after he sailed for Ireland. 

I had been at home but a short time when Captain Budden 
called on me, and offered to sell his fourth part of a schooner 
he commanded, and Messrs. Chew, Clayton, and Chew, who 
owned the other three-fourths wishing me to command her, 
with the assistance of my brother James I made the pur- 
chase, and sailed in June for Grenada, having Mr. John 
Chew, the youngest partner of the house, our supercargo.* 
As he is a very agreeable man, we had a pleasant passage 
without anything remarkable. Not being able to procure a 
return cargo at Grenada, we sailed for St. Croix. At this 
place I was attacked with a violent fever, which with my 
own imprudence had nearly destroyed me. From thence we 
proceeded on our passage home. We had a gale of wind 
from the eastward which obliged us to put into Chincoteague, 
a harbor that all the Delaware pilots should be acquainted 
with. It was owing to our having a good pilot that we got 

* The nature of tlie restriction upon colonial trade imposed by Acts of" 
Parliament, is shown in the bond recjuired in the case of this vessel, still ex- 
tant, dated June 18, 1767. The captain, Charles Biddle, of the "Betsy," 
and John Clayton, bind themselves that the iron shall not be landed in any 
part of Europe except in Great Britain or Ireland, and tliat the lumber shall 
not be landed in any part of Europe to the northward of Cape Finisterre, 
except in Great Britain or Ireland. 



38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

in, by which means the vessel and cargo, and probably our 
lives, were saved. At this place I had a foolish dispute with 
Mr. Harrison (a young: officer that was a passenger with me 
from Grenada), that had nearly proved fatal to us both. I 
esteemed him much, and he professed a very great regard for 
me; indeed, he afterwards proved himself a sincere friend. 
Our quarrel was occasioned by a bet upon two foAvls we had 
bought ashore. After they had fought until they were 
almost dead, I had them separated. This, he declared, was 
owing to my being afraid of losing the bet. Upon my using 
some language he did not like, he told me I Avould not treat 
him in that manner ashore. I immediately ordered the boat 
manned, and we went ashore armed with pistols. We fired 
at the distance of ten paces and missed, and had agreed to fire 
the next shot at five yards, but before we were loaded an old 
gentleman, at whose house we had been, came down and pre- 
vented us firing a second time, and soon persuaded us to be 
reconciled. This difl:erence with Mr. Harrison was of service 
to me afterwards, and it was a caution not to lose my temper 
in a dispute with a friend. The wind being soon after favor- 
able, we sailed for Philadelphia, where we safely arrived the 
first of October. As the owners intended to send the schooner 
to Lisbon, it was necessary to put another deck upon her. It 
was December before she was fitted. We then took in a cargo 
of flour and staves, and sailed for Lisbon. It was the tenth 
of December we left the Capes, and I believe she was the 
smallest vessel that ever crossed the Atlantic at this season 
of the year, for she carried but five hundred barrels. We 
had continued gales of wind, and were thirty days before we 
made the Rock of Lisbon, which was on the eighth of January, 
1768. During most of that passage the sea made a continual 
breach over us, and there were but three or four daj^s during 
the passage that we could cook. We took a pilot on board 
and proceeded up the Tagus as far as the castle of Belum, 
where we came to anchor. The next morning at daylight it 
blew a hard gale of wind, and about sunrise we found the 
schooner was driving very fast upon a dangerous shoal called 
the B , before we could make sail she struck, and the sea 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 39 

broke on board with great violence. The pilot, like a pious 
Christian, went below to say his prayers. As she continued 
striking very hard, I ordered the mainmast cut away. 
Thomas Armstrong, who had been shipwrecked with me in 
the Snow, took the axe to cut the lanyards. Just as he gave 
the first stroke, a sea broke over us, and he lost the axe. He 
came aft to me and told me what had happened, saying at 
the same time, " I believe. Captain Biddle, it is all over with 
us." Armstrong was an excellent and brave seaman. A 
young lad who had persuaded his parents to let him make 
the voyage, hearing it, cried out, " Oh! my mother, what will 
you sufl:er !" 

I told Armstrong not to despair, that as the flood was 
coming in, we would endeavor to force her over the shoal. 
I knew we had no other chance of being saved. For this 
purpose I had the cable cut, and the jib and foresail set. 
Although she struck in such a manner that we expected every 
moment she would go to pieces, I went to the masthead to 
try to con* her over the shoal, and placed Armstrong at the 
helm. We at last beat over the shoal. As it blew very hard 
I kept away for St. Ubes, and set both pumps to work, not 
permitting the well to be sounded for fear of discouraging the 
crew. We kept as near the shore as possible, that if she 
foundered we should stand some chance of being saved. In 
the evening we came abreast of the castle at the entrance of 
the harbor, and as I would not anchor for fear of being driven 
out or foundering (for we had not yet freed her), they first 
hailed and then fired. The first shot went between our 
masts. I hoisted a signal of distress, and continued on. 
Our pilot again wanted to go below, but as I thought his 
presence necessary on deck, I would not suft'er him to leave 
it. We ran in, and the castle kept firing until we were 
among the shipping close in shore where we anchored. About 
nine o'clock we had all the water out of her. The next 
morning we went ashore where the Portuguese directed us, 
and after the health ofiicer had examined our papers, were 
permitted to go tQ the town. I went to the house of one 

* To "con" is to direct the helmsman in the steering of a vessel. 



40 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

Kicholson, an Irishman, that kept a tavern. He was also a 
pilot and had lived many years at St, Ubes. He was a kind, 
generous fellow, and his wife well calculated for her business. 
The day after our arrival the Portuguese pilot wanted me to 
pay him much more than I thought, from his conduct, he 
deserved, and upon refusing, had me up before the consul. 
There he made me very angry by calling me an impudent 
boy. I was so imprudent as to strike him. He went away 
threatening to take my life before he left St. Ubes. This he 
had nearly accomplished a few days after by attempting to 
stab me with a knife, when a person present caught his arm. 
He ran oft', and I never saw the ruftian afterwards. Having 
received a letter from Mr. Daniel Arthur, to whom I was 
consigned, requesting to see me, I set oft" with a Portuguese 
gentleman for Lisbon. We rode on mules, and the man 
they were hired of went with us. He was afoot, and fre- 
quently ran from one side of the road to the other, to beat 
our miserable animals. The roads are sandy, and the country 
appeared very poor. I was received very politely by Mr. 
Arthur, who was one of the principal merchants in the place, 
and very much respected. He lived very elegantly. Shortly 
after this he broke, and my owners lost a considerable sum 
hy him, they having sent a large ship consigned to him, 
which arrived but a few days before his faihire. 

There is not much improvement since the earthquake. 
The orange and lemon trees, with the vineyards, make the 
country about Lisbon pleasant. 

The Castle of St. Julian is at the mouth of the harbor. It 
is founded on a rock, the base of which is washed by the sea, 
and is a very strong fortification. There is a fort on a small 
island opposite that defends the entrance of the river. 

The fandango which the people, high and low, dance is 
very indecent — they throw themselves into all attitudes. In 
the streets you never see the face of a woman — she has a hood 
turned over and you can only see her eyes. 

The streets in Lisbon are narrow and dirty, and the poor 
live miserably. The merchants live well, and are men of as 
much honor as those of any country whatever. Their soldiers 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 41 

do not make a. very militaiy appearance. Most of their officers 
are foreigners, I staid in Lisbon a week, and then returned 
to St. Ubes, In proportion to the size of the place there was 
mneh more damage done at St. Ubes than at Lisbon by the 
earthquake, Immemse pieces of the walls were carried from 
the seaside to the commons back of the town. 

While T was at St. Ubes Henry White, one of the seamen 
that had frequently occasioned disturbances, came on board 
one night in liquor. A small apprentice boy of mine, Wm. 
Williams, speaking to him about making a noise, he took up 
a handspike And threw it at him with such violence that if it 
had hit him, as he intended, must have killed him. Hearing 
the boy cry I ran upon deck, and, being informed what White 
had done, I was determined to punish him severely. When 
I went forward to take hold of him he jumped into the boat ; 
however, before he could cast off the painter, I had hold of 
him, and forcing him on board gave him such a beating with 
the end of a rope as I supposed would be a caution to him 
not to behave in such a manner again. For several days he 
pretended to be too unwell to work; soon after he ran away, 
swearing to one of the crew that he would be revenged of me 
whenever he had an opportunity. 

We sailed from St. Ubes the 11th of February, 1763, loaded 
with wine, oil, and fruit. The 20th, off Madeira, we had a 
squall of wind tKat sprung our mainmast so badly that during 
the remainder of the passage we could not let the boom out 
of the crutch. Schooners, from the manner of their being 
rigged, are more apt to meet with accidents than other vessels. 
This unfortunate accident, with calms and light winds, made 
it the second of May before we arrived at Philadelphia. Our 
long passage occasioned a good deal of the fruit to be spoiled. 
Some of the boxes of lemons were put into the hands of Mr. 
Patrick Farrel, an honest Irish cooper (well known in the city 
from his being concerned in digging for money). He was to 
separate the good from the rotten lemons. He came on board 
a few days after the boxes were put in his hands to tell me if 
I would send him up a case bottle he would till it with very 
good lime-juice he squeezed out of the rotten lemons. 



42 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

The beginning of June we took in a cargo for Fayal, and 
greatly to my satisfaction ni}' friend Hepburn was put on 
board as supercargo. We had a pleasant passage to Fayal, 
and I found Mr. Gaythorn still consul. This worthy man 
received me with great kindness, and his partner, Mr. Graham, 
was very friendly. While we lay here, Mr. Gaythorn gave 
an entertainment at a house he had a small distance from the 
town. The house not being finished, we had to go up a ladder 
to get in the dining-room. AVhen he was called away, which 
I believe was done by his own orders, he placed me in his 
chair to do the honors of his table. I drank so freely, that I 
could not tell how or when I got down the ladder. In going 
to town in the dark, I fell down in a field, and was unable to 
rise. My friends searched in vain for me. I remained on 
the ground very quietly until dajdight, when I went on board 
and felt no injury from my hard bed. I^ever before or since 
was I in such a plight. JSTo person ever had, or has, a greater 
detestation than myself against a person addicted to liquor. 
It renders a man unfit to be trusted with anything. While 
we lay here this voyage we were much diverted by the mas- 
ters of two whaling sloops, one belonging to Cape Cod, the 
other to Cape Ann. The Cape Cod man insisted on it, tliat 
the men belonging to Cape Cod were far superior in skill and 
courage to those of Cape Ann, while the men of Cape Ann 
held those of Cape Cod in the most sovereign contempt. 
Gaythorn was highly entertained with these disputes, but he 
was obliged sometimes to interfere to prevent their coming 
to blows. A few days before we sailed, a ship from London, 
bound to St. Augustine, put in here. She had on board Mrs. 
Farmer, who was going to her husband. Major Farmer. She 
was a beautiful and accomplished woman. I understood 
afterwards she kept a lodging-house in London. The day we 
sailed, a vessel from China, bound to London, put in here in 
distress. One of the crew had a very handsome set of china 
which he brought to Mr. Gaythorn's to sell. I wanted to 
purchase it, and was talking to the man about the price when 
Mr. Gaythorn came up and told the man he would take it. 
The manner in which this was done provoked me very much, 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 43 

and I should have affronted ahiiost any otlier person who had 
hehaved in the manner Mr. Gaythorn had done. When we 
were on the beach, and I was just going into the boat, he 
called me aside, and told me he had put the china aboard the 
schooner, and begged I would deliver it at Philadelphia to 
his sweetheart, but if I could not find his, to give it to my 
own. As he had never been in Philadelphia,* I found he had 
purchased the china to make me a present of it. Hepburn 
and myself were young, but we looked so much younger 
than we were, that they called us the boy captain and boy 
supercargo. During the time we were there, Mr. Gilmore, 
since so eminent a merchant of Baltimore, arrived from 
America. He was then going, I believe, to Scotland, intend- 
ing to return and settle in America, which he spoke very 
highly of. 

We left Fayal the last of August. We had a good deal 
of calm weather, so that it was the fourteenth of October 
before we arrived in the Delaware. A fcAV clays after we 
had a most violent gale. The owners, Messrs. Chew, Clay- 
ton and Chew, having been unfortunate in business had dis- 
solved their partnership, and soon after our arrival, sold the 
schooner. The purchasers wished me to hold the share I had 
and continue the command, but finding they intended to send 
her to the coast of Africa for slaves, I left her, for nothing 
Avould have tempted me to go such a voyage. I expressed 
my abhorrence of this trade in such a manner as to give great 
offence to the owners, who purchased my part of the schooner, 
and procured a master who had no objection to go any voy- 
age they thought proper to send him. 

During my stay at home this time I saw my friend Camp- 
bell, whom I have often mentioned. It gave me much 
satisfaction that it was in my power to render him some 
services. He was a very good, but a very unfortunate man. 
In 1755 he was pressed on board the Is'orthumberland, com- 
manded by Lord Colville. He told me that when he was 
first pressed, if he had thought he should have been ke[>t six 
months on board her, he would have jumped overboard. 
Attempting to make his escape shortly after he was pressed, 



44 autobioctRaphyof 

he was taken, and so narrow!}- watched that he could not 
get away, and he continued on hoard until the year 1763, 
when the crew were paid oft'. He said it was a long time 
before he could believe he was at liberty to go where he 
pleased. Before I sailed he procured the command of a ves- 
sel bound to Cura^'ao and the Spanish ]Main. Oft"Carthagena 
there was a mutiny among the crew, and poor Campbell 
going forward with a handspike to quiet it, was stabbed by 
one of the villians, and died immediately. lie was too easy 
in his temper to command a crew of such ruffians as they 
generally have on board these vessels. 

In JSTovember, Messrs. James and Drinker offered me the 
command of a brig called the Ann, belonging to Mr. O. 
Eves, who had been an inhabitant of Philadelphia, but at 
this time resided in the Bay of Honduras, where the brig 
was bound. I accepted the command, and arrived in Decem- 
ber in the Bay. Mr. Eves informed me he had a cargo ready, 
and we should sail in a few days ; however, owing to northerly 
winds, it was two months before we got away. I was glad 
of this detention, for I did not wish to go on the coast in the 
winter. 

The brig this voyage was moored at a small key to the 
noi'thward of St. George's, called Sand Ive}^ Here Mr. Eves 
at that time lived. 

During the time we were loading I frequently took a fast- 
sailing boat we had, and went to St. George's Key by myself. 
Returning one day I went outside the reef, intending to try to 
fish. When about half-way to the brig, perceiving a squall com- 
ing on, I took in the mainsail, intending to receive the squall 
under the foresail. As it approached it appeared as if there 
was a good deal of wind, and as I was too near the reef to put 
before the wind, I went forward to hand the foresail, intend- 
ing to heave to until it was over. Before I had the foresail 
in the squall took me and blew with great violence. I ran 
aft to get her before the wind, but before I could do so she 
shipped a great deal of water, and, being ballasted with pig 
iron, went down. Fortunately there were two large oars 
which I lashed together with a handkerchief taken from my 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 45 

neck. When the squall cleared away I pushed for the nearest 
land. It was about ten o'clock wlien the boat sank. In 
crossing the reef I was near losing my oars; it would then 
have been impossible to escape drowning. The current set- 
ting against me, it was nearly three o'clock before I was near 
enough to hail a man walking on the shore. It was Captain 
Thomas Remington. It was some time before he heard me, 
and then looked about a good while before he perceived me. 
When he did, he called and told me I could touch the bot- 
tom. This I tried, and finding it only up to my breast, I 
quit my oars and walked ashore so much exhausted I could 
hardly stand. Remington received me ver}^ kindly. During 
my being outside the reef I suftered moi-e from the dread of 
sharks than anvthins; else. I took care after this not to 2:0 
in a boat by myself. 

Nothing remarkable happened until my return to the 
Delaware. Having anchored in the night, a little below ^ew 
Castle, about eleven o'clock a boy came from on board a 
shallop near us, hailed the brig, and begged for God's sake 
we would come on board, as some men were murdering the 
captain. The watch upon deck informing me of the boy's 
hailing, I immediately ordered the boat manned, and went 
on board. The skipper, who was an elderly man, told me 
that two fellows had requested a passage from Philadelphia 
to Reedy Island, where thej'^ said their vessel was lying; that 
soon after he anchored, when he supposed they thought him 
asleep, they came down and were fastening a hankerchief 
around his neck to strangle him when the boy hailed the 
brig. He said the fellows were on the wharf when be brought 
a bag of dollars on board, and he was now sure they had 
come on board with an intention of murdering him. The 
boy, who was son to the skipper, struck up a light, and I 
went into the hold where the two ruffians were found covered 
with an old sail, and pretended to have just waked. When 
they were brought to the light, I found one of them to be 
my old shipmate Henry White, as pickled a rascal as ever 
was hanged. He immediately exclaimed to his comrade, 
" Oh ! it is Captain Biddle, we may expect no mercy from 



46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

him." I took them on board the brig, and had them lashed 
to the pumps, intending to deliver them up to justice when 
I arrived in Philadelphia, but fearing I should be detained 
and plagued if thej were put to gaol, I directed the mate, 
the night of our arrival, to let them run. 

I sailed again for Port Antonio, in Jamaica, and the Bay in 
the month of May. I had a very w^orthy Scotch planter a 
passenger. He told me in Jamaica that when he came to 
take his passage he was afraid he should not be safe with 
such a boy as I appeared. He was, however, very much 
pleased, and wrote to the ow^ners in the highest terms of me. 
We had a very short passage to Port Antonio, where we 
staid but a few days, when we sailed for the Bay, where we 
arrived without anything material happening. While lying 
here there was a man tried for the murder of one JMcCarty. 
One of the witnesses swore that the man went to the compan- 
ion and called out, " Come out here, McCarty.'' Another swore 
that when he called him he said, "McCarty, come out here." 
A Captain Arbuthnot, of Philadelphia, who was one of the 
J^ii'J? gravely remarked to the other jurors that there was a 
very material difference in the eye of the law between come 
out here, McCarty, and McCarty, come out here. He was 
always after this called the "oculist, or the eye of the law 
explained." This is a saying I have often heard since, but it 
arose, I believe, from what I have mentioned. 

I had this voyage four masters of ships passengers. Captains 
Green, Shewell, and two of the name of Welsh. There were 
at this time four Captains Welsh in the Bay. They were dis- 
tinguished by Long Welsh and Short Welsh, King's Religion 
Welsh, and Priest Welsh. The Priest, who was one of my 
j)assengers, was an honest Roman Catholic. Green had a 
dispute with one Samuel Jones, of jSTew York, whom he 
struck. Jones stuck up an advertisement at the tavern that 
Green, presuming on his bodily strength, had struck him and 
refused to give him satisfaction. He therefore published him 
as a coward and a rascal. As Green was g-oino; with me, and 
belonged to Philadelphia, I took down the advertisement and 
gave it to him. He immediately called on Jones and agreed 



CHARLES BI DDL E. 47 

to fight him. They prepared a boat, and, as I was not present, 
Gi:een spoke to a Captain Sinnot to be his second. Sinnot 
was one of the magistrates, but before he set off he resigned 
his commission. There was at this time a sloop-of-war, com- 
manded by a Mr. Jackson, lying here, and the boat happen- 
ing then to be at the Key with Jackson, some person informed 
him that Jones and Green were just put oft' with an intention 
of going to the next Key to fight, and begged he woukl send 
his boat and bring them back. lie immediately sent his boat. 
When she got near and Jones understood their errand he 
swore he would fire into the boat if they attempted to come 
alongside. Finding they paid no regard to what he said he 
fired a pistol into the boat and wounded one of the boat's 
crew slightly in the thigh. They however pulled alongside, 
and the bowman, if he had not been prevented, would have 
driven the boat-hook through Jones. They carried hyn on 
board the man-of-war, and he was kept there until we sailed. 
There were a good many duels fought at this time in the 
Bay. Captain Shewell was wounded in the breast by one 
Brockholst, of New York, and the celebrated Arnold,* who 
was here at this time, fought and wounded one of the Bay 
men. It was said that Arnold frightened his antagonist, who 
had agreed that he should fix the distance, by naming five 
yards. They were more turbulent at this time in the Bay 
than I had ever known them before. 

We left the Bay the last of August and arrived in Phila- 
delphia the latter end of September. Being oft'ered the com- 
mand of a ship by Mr. Aspden, an old schoolmate of mine, I 
left the brig and took the command of the ship. She was a 
large old vessel then chartered to carry a cargo to Port au 
Prince. In order to make as much as possible by the freight, 
Mr. Aspden had a great quantity of boards and scantling put 
upon the ship's deck. Some of my friends who came on the 
wharf when we were loading called her a three-decker. Some 
of them said they were sure we should be obliged to clear our 
decks before we were at sea a week. We left the Capes the 
tenth of December, 1769, in a gale of wind at northwest. 

* Benedict Arnold. 



48 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

About eleven o'clock at night the chief mate, Mr. Savage, 
came down and told me they could not get the pump to suck. 
I ordered him to call all hands and get both pumps to work. 
I turned out myself and took the helm. It blew so hard that 
we were scudding under our foresail. Savage had been a 
schoolmate of Aspden's and mine. He was an excellent oflicer. 
He came to me about twelve o'clock and bes^ged I would allow 
him to cut the lashings of the lumber and clear the decks. I 
should have consented but for what had been mentioned before 
we left Philadelphia, of our soon clearing the decks. It was 
daylight before we had all the water out of her hold. During 
the night I frequently looked over the side, and thought she 
M^as waterlogged. The next day the gale abated, and we had 
a tolerably good passage. 

Port au Prince was at this time in a miserable situation. 
A few months before my arrival most of the liouses had been 
destroyed by an earthquake, and owing to many dead bodies 
lying unburied near the town, and the total neglect of clean- 
liness in their houses and other causes, there were few that 
escaped the earthquake but what died or were sick. Every 
house was a hospital. I was consigned to Messrs. Pasquer 
and Boyay. Boyay died a few days before we arrived, and 
Pasquer was very ill with a fever. As he was a very worthy 
man, I did everything in my power to relieve him, by send- 
ing from the ship poultry, apples, porter, and some other re- 
freshments. The porter he thought of more service to him 
than anything he had taken. I also sent my carpenter, who 
was very handy, to assist in making his habitation more com- 
fortable. He was very grateful for the services I rendered 
him, and, when we sailed, made me a handsome present. 
During the time we were here I anchored outside of all the 
ships in the harbor. This occasioned m.y being some time 
longer unloading, but by this means, and not suftering any 
of the crew to go on shore of a Sunday (at which time they 
generally get drunk), I preserved the health of my crew, 
having none of them sick during the time we were here. A 
few days after my being in this port a brig arrived from 
!N^orth Carolina, commanded by a Captain Gordon, a genteel 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 40 

young man. I was standing on the wharf with Captain 
Hamilton, of JSTew York, when he hmded. After going up 
into the town and returning, he appeared much disturhed. 
Coming up to us, he exclaimed, " My God ! gentlemen, what 
a dismal place this is ; how sickly all the inhabitants look." 
After he had left us, Hamilton, who was a rough old tar, 
swore he was so much frightened he did not believe he would 
live a week, and he was right, for poor Gordon took sick the 
next day, and in three days he was committed to the deep. 

At this time we expected, by every arrival, to hear of war 
between Great Britain and Spain, wliich made me anxious to 
get home as soon as possible. The last of January, three of 
the crew who did not like to go on a winter coast ran away. 
The 2d of February, 1770, I feft Port an Prince. The 4th,' I 
went ashore in the boat at Cape Nicola Mole, in hopes of get- 
ting two or three hands, but I could not procure any ;. we, 
therefore, proceeded on our voyage. I had on board a young 
Frenchman named Dubois, concerned in the opposition made 
to an edict directing the planters to perform militia duty. 
The edict occasioned great disturbances in the island, and 
many of the planters declared they would oppose it at the 
hazard of their lives. My passenger told me he belonged to 
a company, the captain of which was a rich young planter, 
who raised about seventy men, with which he supposed he 
should be able to oppose all the force that could be sent 
against him. About twelve dragoons came from Port au 
Prince to attack them ; when they perceived the dragoons 
advancing, they deserted their commander, and Dubois ac- 
knowledged that he galloped off as fast as any of them. 
Leaving his horse, he hid himself in a field of sugar-cane. 
The next day when he came out, the first object that struck 
him was his late captain lianging on a tree. Many of the 
unfortunate insurgents were in confinement during the time 
I was at Port au Prince, and some were sent to France. They 
were all afterwards pardoned by their humane and generous 
monarch, who also restored to them their property. 

We arrived the 20th of February off Cape May, and I sent 
the boat on shore for a pilot. The weather was moderate, 
4 



50 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

and we soon procured one. With the flood it came on to 
blow fresh from the southeast, and before the pilot thought 
the tide was high enough to get under way, it blew very 
hard, and the sea ran high. Our windlass, which was old 
and rotten, broke, and the ship drove ; we immediately cut 
the cable and made sail. After striking several times, we 
beat over the shoal, called the Overfalls, which is a quicksand, 
and the next day anchored off Philadelphia. 

A few nights before I had sailed on this voyage, my friend 
Hepburn called to inform me a vessel had just arrived from 
Hispaniola, and the captain informed him that the plague 
was in Port au Prince, and had swept off most of those who 
escaped the earthquake, and he begged me to give up the 
command of the ship. I told him nothing would induce me 
to do it after engaging myself. He used all the arguments 
he could to make me give up the voyage, but finding they 
had no effect, he told me he would lay a beaver that I M^ould 
die there of the plague. I agreed to the bet. Upon my re- 
turn, and calling upon him for the hat, he swore I was not 
the same man tliat went out master of the ship Lark, and he 
would make oath of it before a magistrate. To prove him 
mistaken, I went before George Bryan, Esq., one of the jus- 
tices, and made oath that I was the same man who went out 
master of the ship Lark, and was then alive. Upon pro- 
ducing the certificate of my having taken the oath, he 
laughed heartily and paid the bet. 

The ship having occasion for a good deal of repair, it was 
the month of Ma}^ before we w^ere ready to sail. We took 
out a number of frames for houses, and se^'eral carpenters* 
to put them up. We also carried out a quantity of flour, 
five hundred barrels of which were for the governor, and in 
consequence of his having them at a low price, we had per- 
mission to land five hundred barrels more, to be sold to the 
inhabitants. The granting permission to bring flour from 
America gave great umbrage to the masters of ships and 

* Cowperthwait and Jones, two of the carpenters, made a good deal of 
money. Tliey afterwards settled at New Orleans, and were much respected 
there. — Authou's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 51 

merchantB from Bordeaux, who had before supplied the place 
with flour. Upon my arrival many of them came on board 
to inquire the quantity we had, and were much exasperated 
when they found we should not only supply the garrison, 
but also had to sell to the inhabitants. However, they were 
afraid to say anything to the governor, and for myself, I 
cared nothing about them. They told the bakers and others 
that the flour was much inferior in quality to theirs, which 
they knew was not true. The bakers pretended it was not 
as good, but the^^ did not buy of the Boi'deaux men while we 
had any to sell, and gave us the same price they demanded. 
It was the beginning of September before we sailed for 
Philadelphia. On the passage we saw a vessel ashore on 
Watling's Island. I ran to the leeward of the island, came 
to anchor, and boarded her. She proved to be a ship from 
Jamaica, bound to London, the crew of which had lef^ her, 
and gone to Providence in what was called one of the Moon- 
cursers or wreckers. We. took out of her a few hogsheads 
of rum and sugar, and some trifling articles. There was 
nnder the cabin scuttle an iron bound cask that I labored at 
for a considerable time, supposing it contained something 
valuable. When bored, it proved to be a cask of peas. I 
had it put down again. Captain Shewell, who sailed a few 
days after me from. Port au l^rince, told me he was on board 
the same wreck and worked very hard to get up this cask of 
peas, supposing, as I had, that it contained something valua- 
ble. The appearance of bad weather made me leave the 
island much sooner than I otherwise should have done. For 
four or five days we had fresh breezes with cloudy weather : 
there was then a perfect calm for two days. The third 
morning about three o'clock we had a moderate breeze from 
the eastward. About Ave oV-lock the second mate waked 
me, and told me the sky had a strange appearance, and he 
believed there was going to be a squall. I went up imme- 
diately, and never beheld such an alteration as one hour had 
made. From being perfectly clear, heavy black clouds 
appeared all round the horizon, and a wild sky that denoted 
an approaching gale of wind. We then had every sail set. 



52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

I ordered the top-gallant sails in, and the top-gallant masts 
and yards sent upon deck, the fore and maintop sails close 
reefed and handed, the sails well secured with double gaskets, 
the mizzen 3^ard and topmast sent on deck. By eight o'clock 
we were under a reefed foresail, and before nine were obliged 
to hand it. Soon after it blew so hard that no canvas could 
have stood it. For more than thirty hours it blew the most 
violent hurrricane I ever knew. In an old ship, partly 
loaded with molasses, the hold not full, we were in great 
danger of foundering. During the height of the gale I could 
not make any of the crew hear me without a speaking 
trumpet. Fortunately we lost nothing. The next day about 
eleven o'clock the gale abated so much that we set the fore- 
sail and topsails. In the afternoon we saw several sail dis- 
masted, and passed near one that was overset, all the crew of 
which must have perished. Just before dark we saw a brig 
with a signal of distress out, and about eight o'clock we were 
close alongside. She had lost her fore topmast, and sprung 
a leak. As the sea ran very liigh, and there was some risk in 
boarding, I went myself in the boat. She belonged, I think, 
to Pool in England, and was last from Newfoundland bound to 
Wilmington, Xorth Carolina. The master's name was Rowe. 
He told me that before they had the height of the gale all 
their sails blew from their yards, although he had them 
secured in such a manner that he thought it impossible this 
could have happened. The mate, who was a very old man, 
declared he had never been in such a gale. The crew, who 
were mostl}' lads, wanted to leave the brig, and as there was 
every appearance of bad weather, and the brig was a mere 
wreck, I endeavored to persuade the captain to leave her, 
which he would not do, declaring to me in a low voice he 
had made up his mind, which was never to quit her. He 
begged me to speak to his crew, and tell them there was no 
danger of another gale. This I would not do. He, how- 
ever, persuaded them himself to stay with him. Had the 
ci'ew requested it, I would have taken them and obliged the 
captain to leave her. I supplied him with provisions, and 
every article he wanted that we could spare. He gave me a 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 53 

bill upon a gentleman at Wilmington, which was paid, but 
the brio- never arrived. Indeed from the bad weather we 
had soon after Ave parted I did not expect she ever would 
reach any port. A master should never leave his vessel if he 
thinks it probable he may save her ; but in the condition this 
vessel was in, no man should risk his life and those of his 
crew by staying on board when they have a good opportunity 
of leaving her. The wind continuing favorable, the twenty- 
seventh of September we made the Capes, and the next day 
arrived in Philadelphia. 

My owner, Mr. Aspden, having made a good deal of money 
in the. trade to Hispaniola, in June, 1772, agreed with Mr. 
John Eyre to build a ship for him. I superintended the 
building and fitting her. She was launched in October. As 
Mr. Aspden left the naming of her to me I called her the 
Charming ISTancy, after a young lady of the city, whom I. then 
thought a charming girl, and now that I am writing in 1802, 
although she has lost a little of her bloom, she is a charming 
woman. I left the Capes in this ship on Thursday the third 
of December, 1772, bound to Port au Prince. The day after 
we left the Capes we sprung a leak — in a few hours it in- 
creased upon* us. One of the pumps we could not get to 
deliver any water, and the other would not keep her free. 
After hoisting ihe pump out, which we did wdth difficulty, 
it blowing a hard gale, we found it split. "We repaired it, 
got it to work, and in the night freed her. Our American 
ships are generally very badly provided with carpenters' 
tools as well as with sails and rigging. Many a ship has 
been obliged to leave the coast for want of a few necessaries 
that they always should have on board. An owner much 
oftener loses than gains by endeavoring to save a trifle in this 
way. No nation sails their ships with so few hands as we do, 
which makes it the more necessary they should be well pro- 
vided with everything that may be wanted. In this ship, 
which was nearly three hundred tons burthen, I had but two 
mates, six men, and a boy ; and few of our ships were better 
manned. The ship sailed very fast. The Thursday after we 
left the Capes we made Turk's Island, a passage seldom made 



54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

ill a deep-loaded ship in so short a time. The 16th of Decem- 
ber we anchored at Petit Guave, where Mr. Pasquer had 
requested the ship should touch to land part of her cargo, 
which we did the next daj, and sailed in the evening for Port 
au Prince. This part of the island is very sickly. I took an 
officer of the army from this place to Port au Prindfe. I think 
lie told me there were only three officers alive that came out 
from France with the regiment he belonged to, and it was 
but a few years the regiment had been in the island. This 
was the more extraordinary as the French officers are gene- 
rally very temperate. As they have no whipping in their 
army they hang and shoot a great many of their privates. It 
is generally for desertion — if a soldier deserted and carried off 
his arms, and was taken, the}' hung him, as they considered 
him a thief as well as a deserter. If he went off without his 
arms he had the Jionor of being shot. I believe at this time 
they sent to the island those who had deserted in France. I 
have heard this mentioned as the reason of so many here 
attempting to go off. It was hardly possible for any of them 
to escape. The roll is called morning and evening, and when 
any are missing they tire a gun for each one that is gone offi 
This tiring is repeated in the country, and numbers are imme- 
diately after them, so that very few get to the Spaniards, 
where, I believe, they are not much better treated than in 
their own regiments. If they are brought back to the garri- 
son in the morning the}^ are hung or shot in the afternoon ; if 
in the evening they are executed the next morning. If they 
are to die the executing them so soon is an act of mercy. I 
was told that at one time there were nearly fifty deserted in a 
body. They were soon taken, and all of them ordered for 
execution ; when the regiment was drawn out the soldiers all 
declared with one voice the prisoners should not be executed, 
and the officers thought it prudent to pardon all of them 
except a few of the ringleaders. While I was at Port au 
Prince, and a soldier was to be executed, the Major, when the 
unfortunate man was brought out, rode in front of the regi- 
ment, and with a loud voice pronounced it death to any man 
who requested the life of the criminal ; and I was informed 



CHARLESBIDDLE. OO 

that this was done on account of what happened on the above 
occasion. I was told of another affair that made a good deal 
of noise in Port an Prince. A deserter was cut down, and as 
his comrades were taking him to his grave, he was found to have 
some life in him. They immediately took him to the bar- 
racks, bled him, and he was so far recovered in a few hours 
that he was sitting up eating some soup, when the officer of 
the guard, hearing of what had happened, had him carried 
to the place of execution and shot. So seldom did a soldier 
get oif that it was a common saying in Port an Prince when 
the gun fired for a deserter, " we shall have an execution to- 
morrow." 

Soon after my arrival I had a dift'erence with my old friend 
Pasquer, that gave me much concern. I sold fifty barrels of 
flour that belonged to myself to a Mr. Peyrobe, who had 
formerly lived with Mr. Pasquer as a clerk, but, having some 
difference, they parted. Peyrobe was a manly, generous fel- 
low, for whom I had a great regard. After leaving Mr. 
Pasquer, he married and set up the baking business. When 
Mr. Pasquer understood Peyrobe had bought my flour, he 
declared he never would pay me, that he intended to cheat 
me when he made the purchase. I told him if that should 
be the case, the loss would be mine, but I was under no ap- 
prehension aboui it, believing Peyrobe to be an honest man. 
Some person who heard the conversation told Peyrobe, who 
came on the wharf in a great rage, and inquired of Pasquer 
if he had accused him of intending to cheat Captain Biddle 
out of his flour. As Mr. Pasquer gave him no answer, he 
struck him a violent blow in the face that brought him to 
the ground. He would have repeated his blow, but was pre- 
vented by the people on the wharf. For one gentleman to 
strike another was what had probably never happened before 
in Port au Prince, and therefore made a great noise. In the 
evening, Mr. Pasquer sent for me. I found him in bed, com- 
plaining very much of the pain he was in. He had a notary , 
with him, who had drawn up a paper for me to sign. I told 
Mr. Pasquer I would not sign any paper without it was in 
English. He immediately sent for one of his clerks that 



56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

understocxl the language, and had it translated. I found he 
wanted me to declare he never had said Peyrobe intended to 
cheat me. I told him I never had mentioned to Peyrobe, nor 
any other person, what had passed between him and me re- 
specting this business, but if he would give himself time to 
reflect, he must know it would be wrong in me to sign such 
a paper. lie endeavored to explain the meaning of what he 
had said, but as T understood him differently, I would not 
sign the paper. This occasioned a coolness until I was almost 
ready to sail, when he behaved with his usual attention. 

Peyrobe, I understood afterwards, was almost ruined by a 
suit that was brought against him for the blow\ 

As it was thought by Mr. Pasquer there would be no risk 
in my taking sugar in molasses casks, I took on board a 
hundred and ten hogsheads of sugar. The day before we. 
were to sail a frigate arrived from France, and anchored close 
alongside of us. She sent her boat on board to examine our 
cargo, and happening to bore a cask of triage (or bottoms of 
the cistern), they thought it was what would condemn the 
ship. When I went on board in the evening, I found the 
chief mate very much alarmed. A number of French sailors 
were in the hold with a lantern sitting on the cask, and the 
mate told me the frigate's crew had given three cheers, 
thinking they had a good prize. I w^as very glad to find 
they had not discovered what would really have made her a 
good prize. After ordering the Frenchmen something to eat 
and drink, I went on board the frigate. What my feelings 
were may more easily be imagined than described, for the 
sugar was taken on board without orders from my owner, 
for whom I had the greatest atfection and esteem. I aj^peared 
before the captain cheerful and as unconcerned as I could, 
and told him that what his people supposed to be sugar we 
had permission to take on board. His boat being at that 
time going on shore, he sent for a friend, who after having 
examined the contents of the cask, told him that what I 
informed him was true. He immediately ordered his men 
on board. As they had been well treated, they went away 
very well contented. 



C H A R L E S B I D D L E . 57 

Three things happened this voyage that made a great irn 
pression on me, and broke me of a vile habit I had of strik- 
ing with anytliing I laid my hands on, or heaving at any of 
the crew that did not move as briskly as I thought they 
should do. The lirst was soon after we left the Capes of 
Delaware. When we first discovered the ship had sprung a 
leak, I ordered Mr. Corry, the chief mate, to turn out all 
hands. They were all soon upon deck except John Walsh, 
a very stout, lazy fellow, that Corry told me was always the 
last up. I called him myself, but he not answering, I jumped 
into the steerage with a belaying pin in my hand, and going 
up to his berth intended to give him a stroke over his back, 
but being very dark, I struck him on the head. He soon 
after began to groan, and when I spoke to him, made no 
reply. Feeling him about the head, I found I had struck 
him in the mouth, and that it was bleeding. I ordered a 
light, but as it was blowing a hard gale of wind, it was a 
long time before they could get one, or at least it appeared 
a long time to me. During this time I felt the pains of the 
damned, for I concluded he was mortally wounded. Had 
they called out from the deck the ship was foundering, it 
would have added very little to the pain I then felt. It 
determined me to break myself of the abominable practice of 
striking with what might endanger the life of a man, and 
from that time I never gave a sailor a l)low with anything 
but a piece of rope that could do no material injury. When 
the light came I was greatly rejoiced to find he was not so 
much hurt as he pretended to be, or as I expected he was. 
I, however, let him stay below all night, and was glad to 
find him on deck in the morning. His mouth was tied up, 
and he complained of some of his teeth being stove in. He 
was soon well. After this, when all hands were called, there 
was no occasion to give Walsh a second call. The next thing 
that made me think seriously about striking, was an accident 
that happened in Captain Randall's boat. I had dined with 
him, and, going on shore in the afternoon, as they were pull- 
ing off the boat one of the crew happened to touch Randall 
with his oar. When he spoke to him, and told him to take 



58 A U T B I a R A P H Y F 

cure M'hat he Avas about, the man gave him an insolent 
answer, upon which Randall gave him a stroke on the head 
with the tiller. He fell iramediatelj backwards, was taken 
<»n board the vessel, and died soon after. The affair was not 
known at Port an Prince, as Randall sailed in two days. 
Upon his return to Isew York he was obliged to keep out of 
the way. Randall had no intention of hurting the man 
much, and was shocked extremely when he fell back to all 
appearance dead. He let none of his crew go on shore at 
Port au Prince after this accident. 

The night before Ave sailed, which was the •28th of March, 
1773, 1 invited several of my friends to sup with me. When 
at supper there was a great noise upon dock. Upon iirst 
hearing it I was afraid the captain of the frigate had put his 
boat on board, foi- I still felt uneas}' about the sugar. Upon 
going up I found tlie noise was made by William Thomas, 
an Englishman, that was our cook. He was quarrelling with 
the second mate. Upon my threatening him he was quiet, 
but soon after, getting more liquor, he struck the mate. The 
boy telling me this, I went up a second time, with an inten- 
tion of giving him a severe beating; but, when I found he 
was very drunk, and recollecting he was a very good man 
when sober, I did not touch him, but ordered him carried to 
his berth. In the morning at daylight w^e got under weigh. 
About eight o'clock the cook came up and told me he was 
very sick. After telling him I supposed it was owing to his 
being drunk the night before, I directed him to go below. 
The next morning when I went upon deck, the second mate 
told me he had just been in the steerage, and Thomas was dead. 
It appeared the poor fellow had fallen from his berth the 
morning we came out, and probably broke a bloodvessel. 
Although I was sorry for the loss of this man, it was pleas- 
ing for me to think I had not touched him. 

We had pleasant weather until we were within ten leagues 
of the lighthouse on Cape Henlopen, when, the wind being at 
S. E., and blowing fresh with rain, I ordered the mainsail 
hauled up, intending to keep my wind until it cleared away. 
All hands were called, when the cooper, Robert Craig, who 



C H A R L E S B I D D L E . 59 

was one of the most active men I ever had with me, coming up 
last, I called to him, "•' How is this, Robert, all hands up before 
you ?" He made no answer, but walked forward round the 
bow of the boat, then coming aft he gave a spring upon the 
roughtree, and then for the main shrouds, which missing ho 
fell into the sea. I was on the quarter-deck and saw him fall. 
Calling to him, I told him not to be afraid, we would be with 
him in a minute. With the assistance of a French gentleman 
that was a passenger, I threw a hen-coop close to him. He 
swam to it, and got upon it. At the risk of the masts I hove 
the ship round to immediately, cut the boat's gripes, and had 
her over the side in a few minutes. But when he saw the 
ship hove to, he quitted the coop, and, before we could get to 
him with the boat, w^ent down. Had he staid by the coop, we 
should have saved him. He was a young man very much 
beloved by the whole crew. Although naturally very cheer- 
ful, he was, the day lie was lost, remarkably so. He had jjeen 
four voyages with me, and what made me have a particular 
regard for him was the care he took of his mother, who was a 
poor widow, that during his absence he left a power with to 
receive one-half his wages. No person in the ship lamented 
the loss of poor Craig more than Mr. Dubois, my French pas- 
senger, who had been much attached to him from the time 
of his first coming on board. He rolled about the deck as if 
he was distracted; however, if he lamented more at first, he 
was the first to forget the loss of him. Grief never afl:ects a 
Frenchman long.* 

* The father, mother, and wife of Count de Noailles were guillotined 
while the Count was in Philadelphia. When he first heard of it, he shut 
himself up for two hours almost frantic with grief — this was a long time for 
a Frenchman to grieve. I saw the Count the day after he received the 
intelligence, and if he had not told me of the loss he had sustained, I should 
not, A-om his behavior, have supposed anything more than usual had iiap- 
pened, and yet the Count is an amiable man, and more grave than his 
countrymen generally are. — Authou's notk. 

The Count's wife, her mother, the Duchess D'Ayen, and her grandmother, 
Ija Marechale De Noailles, were guillotined on the same day, July 22, 
1794. The Count's father and mother, the Marechal de Mouchy and his 
wife, were executed a few weeks before, on the 27th of June. 



60 AUTOBIOGRAPIIYOF 

We arrived at Philadelphia two days after this melancholy 
accident. The uniiappy mother of Craig never was well after 
she heard of his death, hut died in a few months after him. 
What ought not to have given her pain afflicted her more, 
she told me, than his loss would have done had he died 
ashore ; this was his heing buried in the ocean. This, I 
believe, has been the cause of grief to many a one before and 
since who have lost their friends at sea. 

The ship wanting nothing done to her, in seven weeks 
after we left Port au Prince we were there again. The gover- 
nor thought it impossible we could be back so soon, and said 
he was sure we could not have been to Philadelphia, but had 
landed our cargo at the Mole, a harbor at the west end of the 
island. However, I soon convinced him by my papers that I 
had been at Philadelphia. The governor was the Chevalier 
de Vallier, and a worthy good man he was. I beat the ship 
from the watering place np to the harbor under close-reefed 
sails when it was blowing a gale of wind. Most of the 
inhabitants were looking at us while working up, and Mr. 
Pasquer and some of his friends told me they expected every 
time we hove about the ship would have overset. 

The Sunday after my arrival, all our colors were hoisted, 
when the lieutenant of a frigate (the captain being in the 
country) hailed the ship and told me to haul down my pen- 
nant. This I have no doubt he did at the request of a Bor- 
deaux captain who was moored near us, and was then on 
board the frigate. I answered immediately that I would 
not haul it down, nor suffer it to be done. They then sent 
their boat, and the officer who came on board told me a 
merchant ship could not hoist a pennant in a harbor with 
one of our own men-of-war, and they would not sutler me to 
hoist one. I told him I knew very well we had no right to 
hoist one in a harbor with one of our own men-of-war, but 
we were not bound by any treaty to show them that mark of 
respect, nor should it be dcme by me ; that if the governor 
ordered me out of the harbor, I would go with much pleasure, 
but would never suffer the flag of my country to be insulted 
while in my power to prevent it. Finding me obstinate, 



CHAKLESBIDDLE. 61 

and not choosing to push matters to extremities, he left us 
muttering some curses against the English, and wishing 
ihey were again at war with them. This I told him he 
could not wish more fervently than I did. So high an 
()})inion had I imbibed from Lieutenant IS^esmith and Mr. 
McFurm, the two old naval officers that I was brought up 
under, that nothing but force would have obliged me to haul 
down my colors, and had they compelled me to do it, I would 
have gone to Jamaica and complained to the admiral. jSTo 
seaman should ever sufter the flag of his country to be in- 
sulted ; it will make foreigners have a contemptible opinion 
of you, and dampen the spirits of your own countrymen. 
The captain of the frigate, being sick, was seldom on board, 
so that the lieutenant, who was a malicious rascal, had it in 
his power, and did not neglect it, to give me a great deal ot 
trouble by sending his boat frequently on board under pre- 
tence of searching for sugar or coffee. A few days before 
we were read}^ to sail, a large Guinea ship that lay to the 
windward of the whole fleet took Are, and burnt with great 
violence. The harbor was full of shipping, and, as it was 
said the Guinea man had a quantity of powder on board, 
there was a great alarm and confusion among the shijiping. 
The frigate fired a good many shot at the ship on fire with 
an intention, as^it was afterwards said, to sink her, but as 
the water was smooth this could not easily be done. Instead 
of firing and trying to sink her, they should have gone with 
their boats and those of the fleet, and towed her on shore, 
for they knew on board the frigate that there was no powder 
on board of the ship on fire. As this was not attempted, we 
knew when her cables burnt she must drift among us, and we 
therefore prepared to keep out of the way. I had only two 
men and a boy on board, the remainder of the crew being 
gone for a load of molasses. I ran out a small anchor to the 
southward, intending, when the ship drifted, to heave on it 
if it should be necessary. Just at this time a large French 
ship carried an anchor out across our bows, which would 
have prevented me from heaving should I have wanted to do 
it. I hailed the ship, and told the caj)tain if he attempted to 



62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

heave upon liis cable we would cut it. He answered, " Do, 
if 3^011 dare," and they began to heave in the slack. Imme- 
diately we got a slip-rope, and getting the cable over the 
cathead, cut it, the French captain threatening all the time 
what he would do. I was quite regardless of what he said, 
and did not hear his threats without replying. Fortunately 
the ship on tire drifted clear of all of us. The sight was 
awfully grand. The next day there was a complaint made 
against me by the French captain for cutting his cable. I 
told the governor and intendant (who happened to be pre- 
sent) that I cut the cable to preserve my own ship, and that 
they had no business, nor any occasion, to carry out their 
anchor where they did. The French captain told them I had 

d d all the French for a set of lubberly b . Tlie 

governor gave him a look of contempt, and told him that 
was a business he should have settled himself. The behavior 
of the French captain tlie day after the lire reminds me of 
what Smollet in his Roderick Random says of the day after 
the battle of Dettingen : " Every one of them during the fire 
had performed wonders." 

About a month after my being at Port au Prince, a vessel 
arrived from North Carolina, commanded by Captain Thos. 
Allen. I soon became very intimate with Allen and much 
attached to him, and he had the warmest friendship for me. 
Allen was born in England. Being in the trade of North 
Carolina, he married and settled in Wilmington. We were 
so much alike in our persons that we were frequently taken 
for each other, and had several curious adventures in con- 
sequence of these mistakes. One of them had like to have 
been attended with serious consequences to me. Going one 
day to a billiard table, after staying a short time, I paid for 
what I had lost and was going away, when the tavern-keepei- 
civilly requested me to pay for the wine I had the day before. 
I told him he was mistaken, for I had never been in his house 
before. He laughed at first, thinking me joking, but when 
he found me serious, he was very abusive, and at last de- 
clared I wanted to cheat him. Upon his saying this I gave 
him a kick that overset him. When he got uj) he ran for 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 63 

the guard who came immediatclj and arrested me. They 
are always ready to come on such occasions, as they gene- 
rally get something. I requested they would go with me to 
Mr. PasQuer, which, after some consultation, the}' agreed to, 
and we proceeded to his house accompanied by a large mob. 
Allen happened to be there, and was just leaving the house to 
look for me. The tavern-keeper appeared much astonished 
when he saw Allen, whom he knew was the man he had 
mistaken me for, and who told him he was just going to his 
house to pay him. lie said he was sorry for what had hap- 
pened. As I thought the kick was equal to the abuse, I 
gave the soldiers a trifle, and we all parted satisfied. If we 
had not found Allen, I should have been carried to gaol, and 
perhaps had a large sum to pay, for the tavern-keeper would 
have sworn I was the person who had his wine, and what 
would have been infinitely worse, it would have been thought 
by those that did not know me, that I wanted to impose upon 
the man. Allen and myself were going ashore one evening 
in the jolly-boat, dressed as common sailors, and just before 
landina: we ran foul of a French boat. The crew were verv 
abusive, and one of them caught hold of our boat, when I 
gave him a shove with the oar, and pushed ashore. We 
were walking up the wharf, his arm within mine, when the 
fellow who had* been struck, coming unperceived behind us, 
gave Allen a stroke with a stick on his neck that brought 
him to the ground. The sailor immediatel}^ ran to his boat 
and they put oti'. It was some time before Allen could 
recollect himself, as he was much hurt. We went into the 
first house we came to, and I sent for a surgeon who ordered 
him bled. The surgeon said if the blow had been a little 
higher it must have killed him. The next day he was seized 
with a fever, and I was much afraid we should lose him ; 
however, the fever left him, and in a few days he was able 
to walk aljout. One of the French merchant-men at that 
time acted as commodore, and wore a broad pennant, and we 
knew the French boat we ran foul of belonged to the com- 
modore's ship. We went on board to demand satisfaction. 
The commodore was ashore, and we found him at his store. 



64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

He behaved very politely, sent for the fellow, and told us he 
should be punished in any way we wished for behaving in so 
base and cowardly a manner. The man declared he took us 
for two common sailors, and he was hurt by my shoving the 
oar at him. As he appeared very humble, we thought it 
best to let the matter droj;). Even if there had been no resem- 
blance this fellow might have mistaken Allen for me, for the 
night was dark. 

As the French frigate still lay near us, I did not think it 
safe to take coffee on board in the harbor, and therefore 
hired a schooner to carry ninety hogsheads of coffee to 
Heneaga*, a small island about twenty leagues to the north- 
ward of Ilispaniola. I left Port au Prince the 20th of Sep- 
tember ; the schooner sailed with the coffee the day before 
me. I fell in with her off Cape Nicola Mole, where she 
was to wait for me, and we stood over in company for liene- 
aga, but the weather being dark and squally the night we 
took our departure we lost sight of her. The next day we 
came to anchor near the west end of the island in six fathoms 
water, soft white sand with a few scattering rocks. The 
southwest point of the bay bore S. S. E. The north point 
i^. ]N^. W. distant about four miles. There is fresh water 
here in a small pond. The road to it is from a small reef of 
rocks that are close to the shore. But the best waterirjg 
place is round the north point of the island in what is called 
Ocean Bight. I staid here three days waiting with great 
impatience for the schooner. I was preparing the long-boat 
to go in quest of her, when we discovered her two or three 
leagues to the westAvard beating up. I went on board her, 
and found, in the squalls the night we left Hisi3aniola, they 
were obliged to bear away, and had nearly been lost on Cuba. 
The skij)per JS'icholo, an old acquaintance of mine, was very 
much rejoiced to lind us, for he was short of provisions and 
water, and was afraid he should never have found the ship. 
As I was uneasy at lyuig here, being afraid of British or 
French cruisers, we soon got her alongside, and m a few 

* Now called Inaeua. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 65 

hours took out the coffee and made sail from the island. 
Nicholo told nie afterwards they suffered much in their pas- 
sage hack to Hispaniola. We had favorable weather, and 
arrived without any accident at Philadelphia. 

I made another voyage in this ship to Port au Prince, 
where I found my friend Allen, who arrived a few days 
before me. Two days before he got in, he was fired into by 
a ship called the Ville de Paris. The shot went through his 
boat, but did no other damage. I sailed from Port au Prince 
the last of February, 1774. 

On the 8th of March in lat. 27°, long. 74° 25', Stout, the 
mate, came down and informed me that it looked squally. 
Ciroing on deck it appeared as if it would blow hard. I 
ordered the topgallant sails handed, and the topsails lowered 
on the cap to reef them. James Gurly,*the second mate, 
was on the main topsail yard, and I was calling to him to 
take the second reef in the topsail, when, instead of attend- 
ing to what I said, he let fall the sail, and taking hold of one 
of the backstay's, came upon deck. Much surprised and 
exasperated, I inquired what brought him off the yard. He 
appeared much alarmed, and told me he came down because 
there was a whirlwind in the squall, that he was on board a 
large ship which was dismasted in a moment by such a whirl- 
wind, and they had all nearly perished although the}^ had 
only received the tail of it, and that he was much afraid this 
would prove fatal to us. As Gurly was a good seaman, and 
of course not easily frightened, what he said made an im- 
pression on all the crew. It approached us, and had a most 
awful appearance. For a great distance the sea appeared to 
be carried up to the heavens. Observing it attentively for a 
minute or two, it appeared to me that it was driving to the 
northward, and that if we wore and made sail to the south- 
ward we should avoid it. I therefore immediately wore 
ship, and as I thought it would make no difference if it took 
us, whether we were under sail or not, I made sail and stood 
to the southward. To our great joy we soon perceived it 
would pass astern of us. I never thought myself in greater 
danger than when this whirlwind was coming down upon us. 
5 



66 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

It reminded me of one I had beard of that did great mischief 
in South Carolina. I had two passengers, who, when they saw 
the squall and heard Gurly's story, went into the cabin, out 
of which, they afterwards told me, they nevei' expected to 
go alive. After this we arrived without anything material 
happening. 

My owner, having the offer of a good freight for Bristol, 
chartered the ship to go there. While we were cleaning her 
at Mr. Peter Knight's wharf, a schooner belonging to an old 
friend of mine, Mr. John Dufiield, came from Hispaniola and 
landed her sugar and coft'ee in Mr. Knight's stores. The 
custom-house officers had information of it, and sent to Mr. 
Duffield for the key. I happened to be on the wharf when 
Mr. Duffield came up with it, and was going to give it to 
Swanwick, the chief of the gang. As I felt for Duffield, who 
had a large family, and I looked upon these people as little 
better than robbers, I was determined to save the property if 
possible, and for that purpose requested Duffield to give me 
the key, and go off the wharf. This he very readily did. 
Upon Duffield delivering me the key Swanwick came up and 
demanded it of me. I told him he should not have it. Upon 
this he directed some of his men to get a crow and an axe, 
and break open the door. I called to Mr. Corry, my mate, 
and desired him to come ashore and bring «ome of the crew 
with him. This he immediately did, and when the custom- 
house officers came with an axe and crow they were taken 
from them and hove into the dock. Upon this Swanwick 
went to his boat in order to go on board a sloop of war that 
lay in the cove, but I would not suffer him. Just at this 
time the people from Phillip's ropewalk (rented at that time 
by my friend Hepburn, who sent them) came on the wharf. 
The foreman,* who was an Irishman, coming up to me, called 
out, " Capt. Biddle, who shall we seize?" At the same time 
an apprentice boy of mine, with a tar brush in his hand, 
catching hold of Swanwick, begged I would let him paint 

* J. Lang, afterwards an officer in the Continental army. — Author's 

NOTE. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 67 

him. I made him let him go, and the poor devil was glad 
to run from the wharf, and his myrmidons followed him. I 
sent directly for all the draymen that could he found, and we 
soon emptied the store, putting the sugar and coffee in dif- 
ferent stores, where they were safe. When this was done I 
locked the door, put the key in my pocket, and went to Duf- 
field, who lives now (1802) in the house he then lived in. I 
found him and his family much distressed until he heard 
what had happened, when he gave me the warmest thanks. 
From him I went to Swanwick, and told him if he was going 
to give an account to the Governor or Collector of what had 
happened, not to mention my name, as he must know I saved 
him from being tarred, if not thrown from the wharf into the 
dock. He said he was veiy sorry I had not called sooner, 
for he had already complained to the Collector. I desired 
him to let me see what he had written. Alter some excuses 
he let me see a copy. I found he had mentioned that Cap- 
tain Charles Biddle, at the head of a mob, had driven him 
and the rest of the custom-house officers from the wharf. I 
told him if he did not take care of himself he would be 
driven from the city. I expected some notice would have 
been taken of this affair by the Governor or Mr. Patterson, 
the Collector, as they threatened to do it, but they did not. 
They began at tl^is time to be afraid of acting in the manner 
they would have done some time before. 

The ship sailed in May, 1774, under the command of Capt. 
Corry for Bristol. Corry had been my chief mate from the 
time the ship was launched. He is a native of Kew Castle 
upon Delaware, an excellent seaman, and a very good officer. 
He had only one fault as an officer, and that was his being too 
fond of striking. This, in a great measure, I broke him of, 
for I never allowed any one on board to strike the crew. He 
slept less than any man I ever knew or heard of. I often 
told him he must have been guilty of murder or some horrid 
crime that troubled his conscience and prevented his sleeping. 

A curious affair happened the last time I was at Port au 
Prince that I forgot to mention. A man by the name of Be- 
nijah Liston, belonging to New England, wrote from Leogaue 



68 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

that a person of the name of J. S., whom he had taken in 
sick and nursed until he got well, had rohbed him of some 
money, a watch, ring, etc., and he supposed had gone to Port 
au Prince. He gave me an exact description of the robber, 
and begged I would try to apprehend him, that he belonged 
to Philadeljihia, and probably would try to get there. He 
mentioned the maker's name and number of the watch. As 
soon as I read the letter I went on shore, and going to a bil- 
liard table frequented by the English, I saw a person playing 
who answered the description exactly. I went close up to 
him, and taking hold of his watch chain I drew it out of his 
fob, and, before he could recover his surprise, opened it, and 
found it was the one stolen from Liston. I caught hold of 
him, and told him if he did not go quietly on board he should 
be put to gaol and punished as a thief. I sent for a boat, and, 
as I could not go immediately on board myself, directed Corry 
to come in her. When S. was going on board he jumped out 
of the boat and attempted to swim ashore, but he was soon 
taken and carried on board. In the evening when I went on 
board he was lashed to one of the pumps. I had him loosed 
and stripped, without finding any of the articles stolen. I 
was almost tempted to believe the story he told me of his 
having purchased the watch, when one ol the crew going up 
to him, says to him, "My father .was an old thief that used 
to hide the money he stole under his hat," at the same time 
knocking off his hat, when out dropped a purse containing 
the money, ring, etc. I sent for Liston, who was highly 
pleased at getting his property. J. S. appeared verj^ penitent 
— he signed a paper acknowledging his having robbed Liston, 
which was witnessed by Captains Wilson and Kid del. This 
acknowledgment I have kept ever since. S. behaved very 
well, and was a useful hand during our passage home, for 
which reason I let him go when we got up to town. 

After the ship sailed Mr. Aspden purchased a brig for me 
in which I went to Port au Prince. She was a miserable old 
vessel, as leaky as a basket. When Pasquer came on board 
and saw the vessel, and observed the pump almost constantly 
going, he declared he would never put a cargo on board of 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 69 

her, and begged me to leave her and let her be condemned. 
But I had Mr. Aspden's interest so much at heart that I 
would not consent to it. Fortunately we had good w^eather 
until we arrived in the river. Had we remained at sea a few 
days longer it is probable we should have been lost, for we 
had a violent gale of wind in the river. 

I did not think it safe to sail again in the brig, but left her 
as soon as she w^as discharged. Upon examining her the 
carpenter declared she was not worth repairing. 

With Mr. T. Yorke I purchased a large schooner, and made 
a voyage to Cape Francois. During this voyage nothing 
material happened. 

Upon my return we purchased a remarkably fast-sailing 
brig called the Swift, and loaded her for the Mole. Two 
days before we sailed, William Johnston, a young man who 
had been >vith me on previous voyages, and whom I agreed to 
take out as my mate, rode out to Crermantown and got mar- 
ried. She was a very good girl whom he married, he had 
long known her, and she had promised to marry him when 
he could get to be mate of a vessel. As they were returning 
to town, he stopped the chair and got out to speak to a friend, 
when a wagon coming by overset the chair, and the wheels 
went over his wife's breast. A thick pair of new stays pre- 
vented her being crushed to death. In the confusion the 
brute who drove the wagon got off, nor could we after- 
wards find him. As soon as I heard of the accident I went 
to see her and Johnston. He was perfectly deranged ; she, 
although in great pain, composed, and trj^ing to soothe him. 
She died the next day. I was obliged to sail without John- 
ston. We sailed from Reedy Island in company with a fine 
brig commanded by Captain Clay, bound also to the Mole. 
We bet a suit of clothes upon our passage. I had a very 
short one, and was nearly ready for sea when he arrived. 
When I went on board, and inquired what passage he had 
come through, he declared he had made no land until he 
made Hispaniola, which appears almost impossible. We 
sailed the last of K'ovember from the Mole; the 10th of 
December we were near the lighthouse, and by the negligence 



70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

of the mate in not calling me in time when a squall was 
coming up we had nearly overset. We escaped however, 
with the loss of our main topmast. That day seven weeks 
that we purchased the hrig, we sold her and settled all our 
accounts, and made a very good voyage. 

A Mr. Gay rand, a French gentleman who had heen an 
officer in Mariagalante, a small island to windward of Gauda- 
loupe, w^as introduced to me as a very worthy, good man. 
He told me if I would join him we could make a great 
voyage by going to this island, that he could easily get us 
permission to sell, and bring away coffee. We purchased a 
brig called the Greyhound^ between us, and loaded her with 
such a cargo as he said would answer. We left the Capes 
the 28th of February, 1775. As we drew near Mariagalante 
I found Mr. Gayraud appeared uneasy and expressed his 
fears that those who were in office when he left the island 
were dead or removed. This gave me a suspicion that all 
was not right. I determined, therefore, not to enter the 
harbor until I was sure we should meet with no difficulty. 
As we drew near the island I found his uneasiness increase. 
I then requested he would tell me candidly if he did not 
think we ran some risk, should w^e go directly into the har- 
bor as he proposed. He appeared relieved at the question, 
and honestly declared he felt some apprehension, and agreed 
with me that we had best let the brig lay off the harbor 
untd we went ashore, and found whether w^e could be ad- 
mitted to enter with safety. The 22d of March we hove to, 
and went ashore in the boat under pretence of want of water. 
The little island appears a perfect garden. Upon speaking 
to some of Mr. Gayraud's friends, I found it would not do to 
come to an anchor, and told him we had better stand over 
for Ross in the Island of Dominique. He aj^peared extremely 
chagrined, and I believe expected he w^ould not be treated by 
me as well as he was before we landed ; but as he was unfor- 
tunate, and, I believed, honest, I behaved with more atten- 

* Penns3'lvania Journal, February 22, 1 775. " Cleared Brig Greyhound, 
C. Blddle to Grenadoes." 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 71 

tion to him than ever, and he soon recovered his cheerfulness. 
We touched at Dominique, Mountserat, Nevis, St. Kitts, and 
St. Eustatia. At the last three islands we went ashore on 
the same day. Finding the markets would not answer at 
any of these islands, we sailed for Hispaniola, and arrived at 
the Mole the 4th of April, and to my great joy found here 
my old friend Allen. I had this voyage with me Captain 
Stephen Decatur,* who afterwards commanded a privateer 
out of Philadelphia, and in 1778, was in the American navy. 
He came out with a small adventure, and left me here, to 
command a vessel hound to Europe. 

We sold our cargo, and took another for Philadelphia, and 
sailed the 23d of April, 1775. We left the Mole in company 
with several sail of vessels hound for diiferent ports in 
America, who all soon left us, the brig being flat-bottomed 
and sailing remarkably bad upon a wind. We however had 
a tolerable passage, arriving in the Delaware the 4th of May. 

* Father of the distin<juished officer of the same name. 



72 AUTOBIOftRAPHYOP 



CHAPTER II. 

Upon our arrival we heard of the battle of Lexington, and 
found the whole country preparing for war. Being young, 
and considering my country unjustly persecuted, I was as 
willing to go to war as any man in America. Perhaps my 
having little to lose was another reason for my having no 
objection to it. Talking with my old friend Aspden, I found 
him as much averse to a war as I was for it; and this was 
not surprising, for he is what is called a worldly man, and 
had much to lose. I never felt the less friendship for him, 
nor did I ever feel the least resentment against any man in 
America for being opposed to the Revolution, where he 
acted from principle. 

The conduct of our people at this time was not always cor- 
rect. A very genteel young man, son of the Collector of 
Jersey, I believe from Salem, came to Philadelphia to give 
information respecting a ship from Ireland. He was seized 
by a mob while at the Colfee House, tarred and feathered, 
dragged with a rope fastened round his body through the 
city, and then obliged to jump into the dock up to his waist 
in water to wait for a boat to carry him to Jersey. I felt 
very much for this young man, who was only obeying the 
orders of his father. When in the boat they took him along- 
side the ship he had come to inform against, and some of 
the people on board were so inhuman as to heave hot water 
on him. I was so much incensed at this inhuman behavior 
that I got in a boat with a few that felt as I did to take him 
from the wretches he was with. They, however, put off 
before we could get to the ship, which probably was fortunate 
for us. They took him to Cooper's Ferry, ' where he had 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 73 

medical aid. I understood lie Avas so mueli injured that he 
could never be perfectly well. "While he was tied an acquaint- 
ance of mine (concerned in the ship informed against) struck 
him with a stick, and would have repeated the blow if I had 
not stopped him. I never liked this man afterwards. When 
Dr. Kearsley and Hunt were afterwards carted around the 
town, I did not feel for them. Kearsley would huzza for the 
king, notwithstanding his friends begged him to be quiet and 
that they Avould take him out of the cart. The doctor made 
a shocking appearance — he had declared he would not be 
taken alive out of his house, and when the mob went there 
he was sitting in his front parlor with pistols. A young man 
broke the sash, and several entered and dragged him out of 
the window. His face and head were much cut. He was 
l»rudent enough not to fire, for if he had done so he certainly 
would have been kiHed. Captain Shewell, a relation of Hunt's, 
was anxious to get him out of the cart, and would have at- 
tempted it at all hazards had I not persuaded him against it ; 
for it appeared to me that Mr. Hunt was much pleased with 
his situation. He was going to England, where he thought 
it would be a recommendation to him, and I believe it was. 
He was a lawyer when here, but turned clergyman in England, 
and had a living given to him.* 

Captain Gray^don, of Slice's Regiment, and myself wont out 
one morning about this time to fire at a mark with our pistols. 
After we had each fired several times at a piece of paper on 
a fence, a man came running up to us, his face as white as a 
sheet, and cried to beg we would not fire again; that we had 
shot his child. Inquiring where the child was, he pointed to 
a house a 'considerable distance back of the fence. We had 
observed the house, but did not suppose it within reach of our 
shot. He desired us to go with him to his house ; however, 
as we thought that might occasion some trouble we refused, 
but told him we would call next day. He said it was no 

* An account of the cm-ting around the town of the "Tory doctor," Dr. 
Kearsley, and Isaac Hunt, tlie attorney, which occurred in July, 17 75, will 
be found in Graydon's Memoirs, pp. Ill, 112. Hunt was the father of 
Leigh Hunt, the poet, and soon after left the country. 



74 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

matter, he knew Captain Biddle very well. After consulting 
together, we thought, as he knew me, it would be best to go 
with him. We found the ball had gone through a pane of 
glass and struck the child, who was in its mother arms, in 
the side, but had not entered the body. Probably it would 
have been killed but for the thick woollen clothes it had on. 
After expressing our concern, and giving the mother some 
money, they were perfecth^ satisfied. I called several times 
afterwards, and found the child had received no injury what- 
ever. The pistol was fired by me-^the ball must have passed 
through a hole in the fence. The father, whose name was 
Gilbert, a potter, and a poor man, told me he was at work in 
his shop when the mother called out the child was shot ; and 
when he ran to us, which he did without going to the child, 
he expected it was mortally wounded. He was much delighted 
when he returned and found it not hurt. Graydon and myself 
felt little less pleasure than the father. He kept the ball, 
which he said he would preserve for the child, and probably 
it is still kept in the family.* 

I expected the difiierence between Great Britain and America 
would not be settled without a war. The first day Congress 
sat I rode out with my brother Edward, who was a member 
of Congress, to meet Mrs. Biddle who was on her way from 
Reading. He then told me that from the disposition of the 
members, particularly those from !N^ew England, he was sure 
much blood would be spilt before the dispute was settled. He 
said he would give up his practice at the bar, which at that 
time was very great, and go into the army, as he had been an 
ofiicer in the Provincial Army, and was in the prime of life. 
Brave, strong, and active, esteemed and respected for his 
talents, he would prol)ably have been next in command to 
General Washington, but coming to Philadelphia in January, 
1775, from Reading in a boat, he fell overboard. I was in 
the boat with him. We got him in immediately, and went 

* This incident is told in Graydon's delightful " Memoirs of a Life chiclly 
passed in Pennsylvania," etc. p. 110. Graydon's father and Judge James 
Biddle (brother of Charles Biddle) having married sisters named Marks, 
the author of the Memoirs speaks always of Judge Biddle as his uncle. 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 75 

ashore to a tliT^rn that happened to be near where we landed. 
In order to prevent his taking cold he drank a great deal of 
wine and stood before a large fire in his shirt to dry it. The 
landlord being a Tory, and saying something about what Con- 
gress had done being improper, he beat him severely. With 
his passion and wine he became ungovernable. lie ordered a 
blanket to be brought in, and although Col. Patton and 
several of his friends as well as myself tried all we could he 
would not change his shirt, but laid doAvn in it damp before 
the fire. The next morning he was very ill, and in a few 
days broke out all over his body and face large blotches. He 
had one in his eye that deprived him of the sight of it. Al- 
though he lived nearly five years afterwards, he had scarce a 
day's health. Before this he never was sick.* 

My friend Mr. Yorke launched a ship soon after my arrival, 
which, oftering me the command of, I accepted and fitted her 
for sea. We took in a cargo for Lisbon, but before we were 
ready to sail I was spoken to by Mr. Mifflin to go to France 
to purchase powder and arms. As I infinitely preferred this 
to going in the ship to Lisbon, with the consent of Mr. Yorke 
I left her, and on the 10th of September, 1775, sailed in the 
brig Chance, Captain John Craig, for L'Orient. Congress 
had declared that, if the British Acts of Parliament they com- 
plained of were n.ot repealed by this day, they would not, after 
it, export anything whatever to Great Britain, Ireland, or 
the West Indies. It was a very fine day. The river covered 
with ships and the wharves crowded with inhabitants was a 
pleasant sight, if you could look at it without reflecting on 
the occasion that drove the country into the measure. Several 
of the vessels had arrived but a few days before, two or three 
only the day before. They were unloaded and loaded with 
great dispatch — they had as many hands as could work night 
and day. It would, perhaps, have been better policy in Con- 
gress to have prohibited any trade to Great Britain or her 
possessions. We should then have kept many a gallant sea- 
man that sailed in this fleet and never returned to America ; 

* See Note C, at the end of this volume. 



76 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

for many of the vessels M^ere sold abroad, and the crews not 
being able to return were obliged to enter into foreign service. 
The trade should have been stopped, or the owners obliged to 
bring back the crews they sent out. I went to town, the day 
after the fleet sailed, on business ; the wharf was clear of every- 
thing except a few melancholy looking people. 

A schooner under the command of Capt. Ash sailed i^ 
company with us for Portugal. He was to dispose of his 
cargo there, and pay the net proceeds to me in France. We 
were armed so as to keep off any boat or small vessel, and 
my orders were to speak no vessel, if we could avoid it. Off 
the Banks of ^N'ewfoundland we fell in with several sail, 
amongst them was a frigate that, about eight o'clock, gave 
chase to us; she was then near three leagues from us. There 
was a pleasant breeze, and she gained very little upon us until 
about ten o'clock, in a heavy squall we found she had gained 
considerably upon us, they having carried their topgallant 
sails when we were obliged to take in ours, and lower our 
topsails. Just after the squall a young man named John 
Williams fell from the foreyard overboard. He was a Ber- 
mudian, and swam like a tish. A rope was hove to him, 
which missing, he went astern. He was called to, not to be 
afraid, and answered he was not the least uneasy. We threw 
him a spar. Craig was of opinion the frigate would pick him 
up, and was against heaving to, but I had the brig hove to, 
the boat hoisted out, and we got him on board. We had no 
right to expect the frigate would heave to when we would 
not. It was a very trying time to me, for the frigate was 
coming up fast, and I did not know what would be the con- 
sequence of my being taken going on such an expedition. 
It may be supposed I was very impatient until we made sail. 
While the boat was out, Craig was comforting me by declar- 
ing he was sure our heaving to would occasion our being 
taken. However, there was no danger of Williams's being 
drowned, for he could swim to Bermuda. Before we could 
make sail the frigate was within less than two miles of us. 
It blew hard in squalls all the afternoon ; in the squalls she 
gained upon us, but when we could carry our topgallant 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 77 

sails we dropped her. Finding she could not come np with 
us, just before^it was dark she hove to and hoisted a signal 
of distress. As I supposed it only done to decoy us, we paid 
no regard to their signal ; indeed it was pretty evident nothing 
material could be tlie matter, for she carried a press of sail 
the whole day, and left her convoy, or the ships in company 
with her, in the morning. Before I sailed we had an account 
of one of our ships being taken by bearing down upon an 
armed vessel that hoisted a signal of distress. Taking vessels 
by this infamous method should be forbidden by all nations, 
for, if made a practice, no one would run the hazard of being 
taken, let the appearance of distress be ever so evident, and 
thus many lives may be lost that if this shameful practice 
was put a stop to would be saved. I was much rejoiced to 
o-et clear of the frie-ate. Some time after in the night we 
fell in with a brig bound from Lisbon to Cork. The captain 
inquired eagerly what news? I told him the American army 
had the advantage of the British in several engagements, 
and expected soon to drive them from the country. lie struck 
his speaking trumpet with great violence upon the roughtree 
and swore he was glad to hear it, and hoped we icould soon 
drive the British from America. When we were near the 
coast we passed a great many vessels that from the badness 
of the weather \yould not run in with the land. The twenty- 
second day after we left the Capes we arrived at L'Orient. 
I found there was no powder to be had here, and therefore 
set off in a small French coaster for Mantes. The morning 
we went from L'Orient the skipper fell into the hold, and 
was so much hurt he thought it necessary to bear away and 
go into the river Vilaine, where his family lived. The crew 
all went from the vessel, and there was no one left on board 
but an old French seaman I brought from Philadelphia, and 
myself. As it was cold, I ordered him down in the cabin 
and to shut the scuttle. A short time after, perceiving a tire 
in the caboose which was in the hold, I told Peter to get up 
and put it out, but the hasp of the scuttle had got over the 
staple, and he could not get out, and there was no cabin 
window by which we could escape. In vain we tried every 



78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

method to break or cut our way out. Fortunately the fire 
burnt down without doing any damage. It blew hard, and 
w'e remained in this perilous situation for twenty-four hours 
before the boat came on board and released us. As the wind 
was ahead, I went on shore. The people appeared to live 
very miserably, having little but black bread and fish to live 
upon. We remained here two or three days, when we sailed 
for ]!^antes, w^here we arrived the 10th of October in the 
evening. The next morning early I took a walk along the 
ramparts. In looking out I saw the body of a man lying on 
his face in the mud. It appeared he was an Irish priest, and 
it was supj^osed some person in a fit of jealousy had destroyed 
him. As I was the first person that discovered the body, I 
was under some apprehension that the people w'ho were 
assembling in crowds w^ould apprehend me. However, they 
took no notice of me. 

It was a disagreeable and dangerous business I was on, for 
I was not acquainted with any person in France, and after an 
article that was prohibited from being sent out of the country. 
I had some letters with me from my old friend Pasquer, but 
they were written long before I had any thoughts of going to 
France. As I knew Mr. Pasquer had an uncle in Nantes, I 
brought these letters, and with them introduced myself to 
Mr. Richard. I believe that was his name. He was a very 
respectable man, and received me with great politeness; and 
his son, who was an oflicer in the army, behaved very friendly. 
They both told me it was a very dangerous business I was 
upon, and aj^peared uneasy at my visiting them. I applied 
to some of the masters of ships I had known in Port au 
Prince, but they were afraid of me when they knew my 
business. One of them told me it was highly probable I 
would be taken up by the officers of the government if I re- 
mained much longer. Finding nothing to be done here, I set 
off" for L'Orient by land. The roads are good, but the country 
not so thickly settled as I expected to find it. The horses 
were not good. I w^as determined on my arrival at L'Orient 
to sail for Holland, where I was ordered if powder and arms 
could not be had in France. However, it was left in a great 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 79 

measure to myself to do wliat I thought best. Upon my 
return to L 'Orient, Captain Mason, of Philadelphia, was there 
in a schooner loaded with saltpetre bound home. He informed 
me the merchant who did his business proposed'sending a 
ship for Philadelphia, with a great quantity of powder, arms, 
and other war-like stores. He told me if I would o;o in his 
schooner he would load the brig and bring her and the ship 
to Philadelphia. It was with great reluctance I consented to 
leave the brig, but as I could do it consistent with my in- 
structions, and considered it would probably be of great 
advantage to my country, as Messrs. Barard Freres promised 
faithfully to send the ship if Mason stayed, fully relying on 
their promises and those of Mason, I went on board the 
schooner. We sailed from L 'Orient the 30th of October. 
The schooner was a handsome vessel, and had the appearance 
of sailing fast, but she did not. Her mainmast worked so 
much in the step that I expected we should lose it. We 
stood to the southward until we got into the trade-winds. 
While we were running down the trades, the main topmast 
gave way at the cap while a young man was then at the top 
of it, reeving halyards for a royal we intended setting. He 
called out the topmast was going, and a moment afterwards 
it went away. He had a miraculous escape, having received 
no injury. He was a very active young man of the name of 
Dickson. He came from the back part of Pennsylvania, and 
this was his tirst voyage. We kept the trade wind until we 
were to the westward of Bermuda, when we stood to the 
northward. In the latitude of 35° we had a severe gale of 
wind from the northwest, during which the mainmast worked 
in such a manner that we expected every moment it would 
go over the side. Consulting with Captain Patton, whom 
Mason had brought out with him as master of the schooner, 
we concluded it would not be safe to go on the coast with 
the mast in its present situation, and as we had no way of 
securing it at sea, that it was necessary we should bear away 
for the West Indies. It would not have been safe to bear 
away during the gale. When the wind and sea fell, we stood 
to the southward, intending to put into St. Eustatia. Two 



80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

or three days after we stood to the southward, I fell down the 
fore-scuttle and hurt myself very much. It occasioned my 
havmg a spitting of blood for some time. The first land we 
made was St. Martin's.* We went in here to avoid a ship 
we took for a British cruiser. The day after we arrived I 
went in a small schooner to St. Eustatia for some assistance. 
Here I found many of my acquaintances from Philadelphia, 
amongst others, Captain James Craig, brother to the captain 
who went with me to France. He was very much alarmed 
at first seeing me, fearing his brother was lost. From them 
I understood there was no prospect of peace. Having pro- 
cured what was wanted for the schooner in a few hours, I 
returned to St. Martin's. A British ship of twenty guns 
went into the harbor with us and anchored near the schooner. 
I expected we should have had some trouble with this man- 
of-war, but she sailed the next day without taking au}^ notice 
of us. We hoisted no colors and suiiered none of the crew 
to go on shore, so that it is probable the captain of the man- 
of-war, who I believe was Hawkes, did not know where we 
belonged to. Upon our arrival the crew had directions to 
tell any person that inquired, that we were loaded with salt. 
Still feeling the hurt I received from my fall, and exposing 
myself in getting the schooner ready for sea, I was seized 
with a fever that had nearly proved fatal to me. The schooner 
being now ready to sail, and being myself too unwell to pro- 
ceed in her, and fearing some accident should she be detained, 
I sent her home under the charge of Capt. Patton. In a few 
days, my fever having abated, I went to St. Eustatia, and 
finding a ship belonging to Boston, commanded by a Captain 
Adams, ready to sail for Philadelphia, although she was a 
miserable old vessel, I was so anxious to get home I took my 
passage in her. A few days after we sailed we were alarmed 
by a piece of sheathing co'tning off. As the weather was 
good, we soon got a piece of board nailed over where the 
sheathing was ofi", but from the badness of the sheathing I 
was convinced if we had bad weather on the coast we should 

* Out of the L( eward Islands. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 81 

be in s^reat danger of foundering. The fourth of January, 
1776, about four o'clock in the afternoon, we struck sound 
ings. We had no observation that day, but by our reckoning 
we were in latitude 38° 20'. At this time we had a light 
breeze from the northeast. At dark the breeze freshened 
with rain. At six o'clock the fore and main topsails were 
close reefed, the mizzen topsail handed, and we hauled upon 
a wind to the eastward. At seven o'clock as there was every 
appearance of a gale of wind the topsails were handed. 
Hearing them a long time at the pump about half-past eight 
I went upon deck, and finding it blowing hard, and the ship 
laboring very much, I told Capt. Adams (who was a good 
fellow) he had better ease the ship by taking in the mainsail. 
He said he was in hopes that it would soon moderate, that 
he was almost perished with being so long wet and cold. 
Understanding some time before this, from the mate, who 
was not on very good terms with Capt. Adams, that this' was 
the first time he ever commanded a square-rigged vessel, and 
as they had no gale of wind before during the voyage, I began 
to think he did not know how to take the mainsail off" her. 
I therefore told him he had better go belo'W, and put on dry 
clothes, and I would attend to the ship. He went imme- 
diately down, and I had the mainsail handed, mizzen and 
fore topsails hauled down, and the ship hove to under her 
foresail. Still finding the pumps had not sucked, I went to 
Capt. Adams, and told him we had better go in the hold and 
see if Ave could discover the leak. When we went down she 
had a great quantity of water in her, and some of the empty 
water casks were floating in the forehold. I then never ex- 
pected to go alive out of the hold. We found the water was 
rushing in forward, the ceiling* was cut away, and we per- 
ceived the leak was occasioned by the sheathing being off". 
We stopped it as well as possible, but as she still made a 
great deal of water we concluded it best to stand to the west- 
ward and get in shore, that if the leak gained on us, and we 
could not get into the Delaware, we could run ashore and 

* The inside planking of a vessel. 



82 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

probably save our lives. It was disagreeable and dangerous 
running in shore at this season of the year in a gale of wind 
from the northeast, but of two evils this appeared the least. 
We accordingly bore away W. ^N". W. intending to fall in 
with Cape May. The next day, happily for us, it was more 
moderate. .About eleven o'clock we made the land a little 
to the eastward of Cape May. At twelve o'clock, seeing a 
man upon the beach, we put the boat ashore for him. The 
men in the boat were all ISTew England men, w^ho knew how 
to manage a boat in a heavy sea as well, if not better than 
any other people. With some difficulty and danger they 
brought the man on board. The New England men are not 
generally good seamen, being seldom regularly bred to the 
sea, but they are sober, active men, most of them very stout, 
and will endure more hardships than any people I ever sailed 
with. This ship had an excellent crew. The man they 
brought on board was a Cape May pilot. He soon anchored 
the ship ofH the Cape. I understood from him with much 
pleasure that Patton had arrived safe. As there was a good 
deal of ice in the river and bay, the ship could not proceed 
up. I therefore took my clothes on shore, and with a fellow 
passenger hired a light wagon to carry us to Philadelphia. 
We arrived at Cooper's, opposite the city, about noon, the 9th 
of January. The river was crowded with people skating and 
we crossed on the ice. I found all my relations well except 
my brother Edward. Mr. Mifflin, who engaged me to go to 
France, was perfectly satisfied with what I had done. A few 
days after my being at home. Mason arrive^- He put into 
Morris River and left the brig. I went there, and brought 
her up. He and Craig differed, and would not speak to each 
other. She had some powder on board, but her cargo con- 
sisted chiefly of saltpetre, which was as acceptable as powder. 
Messrs. Berard, after having their ship nearly ready to sail, 
were afraid to send her. 

As all classes well aflfected to the American cause were 
.associating, I joined Captain Cowperthwaite's Company of 
Quaker Light Infantry. It was composed of men who were 
Quakers, or descendants of Quakers. We went out every 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 83 

day to exercise, and took great pains to make ourselves quali- 
fied to act our parts as soldiers when called into the field. 
General Harmar belonged to this company. Of him, Baron 
Steuben and General Washington both said they never knew 
a better, if so good an officer as he was. Several others of 
the company joined the American Army and became valuable 
officers. 

In the spring there was an account came up to the city 
that the Roebuck, Captain Hammond, was aground on the 
Brandy wine Shoal. We had at that time a provision ship 
of fourteen guns, fitting out under the command of Captain 
Head. It was determined this ship should sail immediately 
with two or three of the galleys. Captain Cowperthwait 
waited on the Committee of Safety, and offered his company 
to act as marines. The Committee thanked him and the 
company, but said there was a full company of marines be- 
longing to the ship. I then oftered myself as a seaman, when 
Captains Souder, Jackson, Potts, and some others of the 
company did the same. Our service was gladl}- accepted, 
and w^e went immediately on board. The ship was fitted out 
with great dispatch, numbers of respectable people coming 
down to assist in getting the guns, water, and ballast on 
board. Although it rained very hard, they never left the 
wharf until she had everything on board. When we put 
oft' from the wharf, we had about one hundred and fifty men 
on board, but we were very badly fitted. Our guns were a 
great deal too long, and our crew were chiefly landsmen. 
There were not more than twenty seamen including the offi- 
cers on board, so that we should have made a bad hand at 
fighting. Having some apprehension of being taken, I took 
on board only a few shirts and trowsers, being determined if 
taken, and the ship came into the river, to endeavor to make 
my escape by swimming. However, I was not put to the 
trial, for the day after we sailed intelligence was brought us 
of the Roebuck getting oft" the shoal, and the volunteers were 
all dismiss.ed. Had Captain Hammond known our intention, 
and kept his ship on a heel near the shoal, he could easily 
have taken the ship and galleys. 



84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

The intelligence of the Roebuck getting off the shoal was 
brought by Captain Andrew Caldwell, who had been down 
to the Capes to 'see in what position the Koebuck lay. When 
the galley returned and anchored near the ship, Captain Read 
ordered the barge to be sent to bring Captain Caldwell on 
board. I went in her as coxswain, and the rest of the masters 
as the boat's crew. When we got alongside of the galley, I 
stood up with my hat off, and received him on board the 
barge with as much ceremony as if we had belonged to the 
barge of a British man-of-war, and he had been an Admiral. 
When we were at some distance from the galle}-. Captain 
Caldwell, looking at me very steadfastly, exclaimed, "My 
God,Biddle! is it 3'ou?" I answered, 3'es. He then recog- 
nized Potts and some of the other masters whom he knew. 
When he put the same question to Potts that he did to me. 
Potts told him that, we had been unfortunate, and were 
obliged to enter before the mast. As he was well acquainted 
with my family, he seemed much affected ; however, he was 
soon relieved by Captain Read, who wished us to mess with 
him. This we would not do, for having entered as foremast- 
men we were determined to act as such. 

Some time after this the Roebuck and Liverpool came into 
the river, and were attacked by the galleys. I have heard 
that Captain Hammond then said if the commanders of the 
galleys had acted with as much judgment as they did cour- 
age, they would have taken or destroj-ed his ship. 

Hearing the evening before the engagement that the galleys 
were going down from Marcus Hook, where they were lying, 
and that it was probable they would engage the Roebuck and 
Liverpool, I set oft'earlj^ in the morning in a chair with Mrs. 
Gibbs, a widow lady, at whose house I M'as very intimate, to 
see the intended battle. My intention was to go as a volun- 
teer on board one of the galleys commanded by Captain 
Thomas Houston, a schoolmaster of mine. This I did not, 
however, communicate to my friend Mrs. Gibbs, who owned 
the chair, and I was fearful, if she knew my intention, that 
she would choose some other gallant, for she was attached to 
the British and I believe wished them success. After we 



CHARLES BIDDLE, 85 

had passed Chester about a mile, as I was driving furiously 
along, one of the shafts broke. Having kept the reins in my 
hands, I stopped the horses, so that we took the ground with- 
out any injury. Pulling the chair on one side of the road, I 
made an apology to Mrs. Gibbs for leaving her, and set off 
as fast as my feet could carry me for Marcus Hook, which 
was near three miles from where the accident happened. 
Notwithstanding all my exertions I was a few minutes too 
late. ISTot being able to get a boat to put me on board, I 
returned to Mrs. Gibbs, who was a very enterprising lady. 
She had with the assistance of some passengers got a rail put 
alongside the shaft, and was coming down when I met her. 
As she had a great friendship for me, she readily forgave me 
for leaving her so abruptly. She told me she was verj'- glad 
of my being disappointed, that it was very foolish in me to 
run the risk of my head or neck on such an occasion. ' We 
drove down and soon saw the ships (which were under way) 
and the galleys tiring at each other. It was a tine day, and 
the banks of the river, out of reach of the shot, were lined 
with spectators, and every house near the shore filled. Among 
others Colonel Turbutt Francis was there. Col. Francis was 
a native of Philadelphia, who had been an officer in the 
British service.* He had a chair placed on the bank of the 
river where he stit to see the action. He was so much afflicted 
with the gout that he could not walk. As his chair was 
placed where the shots from the ships sometimes passed over 
him, I requested he would have it removed. He, however, 

* Colonel Francis, brother of Tench Francis, had also served as Lieut. - 
Colonel in the Provincial Armj'. In the minutes of the Provincial Council 
is the following entry : — 

Pkovincial Council, Monday, May 21, 1770. 
This day the Governor was pleased to appoint Turbutt Francis, Esq., to 
the several offices following in the room of Hermanies Alricks, Esq., who 
resigned, bj' five separate commissions, under the great seal of the Province, 
viz. : Prothonotary or Principal Clerk of the County Court of Common 
Pleas ; Clerk of the Quarter Sessions of the Peace ; Clerk to Register of the 
Orphans' Court ; Recorder of Deeds ; and a Justice of the Peace, and of 
the County Court of Common Pleas for the County of Cumberland. 



Ob AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

would not, saying there was little danger, and he sat with 
great composure, observing the engagement. 

On the memorable 4th of July, 1776, 1 was in the Old State- 
House yard when the Declaration of Independence was read. 
There were very few respectable people present. General 

* spoke against it, and many of the 

citizens who were good Whigs wore much opposed to it ; 
however, they were soon reconciled to it. 

Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, contributed 
much towards reconciling the people to the Declaration of 
Independence ; and his pieces afterwards jiublished, entitled 
" The Crisis," had a great effect in rousing the people to arms. 
The beginning of his first number, in which he says, "These 
are the times to try men's souls ; the summer soldier and the 

* This name is obliterated and entirely illegible in the manuscript. 

It is remarkable that we have few accounts of this memorable incident 
from actual witnesses. Until i-ecent times little importance was attached to 
the exact date of the public reading of the Declaration. Thus it happens 
that, writing from memory, the author has given the date as the 4th of July 
instead of the 8th, the latter being doubtless the correct one. ChristO])her 
Marshall says, "in the presence of a f/reat concmnse of people, the Declara- 
tion was read by John Nixon." Mrs. Deborah Logan, who was standing 
in her father's garden at a point which is now the N. E. corner of Fifth 
and Library Sts., says, "I distinctly heard the words of that instrument 
read to the people • • • the first audience of the Declaration was 
neither vei-y numerous nor composed of the most respectable class of citizens." 
Note at p. xlv. Penn and Logan Correspondence. In this last particular her 
account is confirmed by the author of these reminiscences. 

Upon the reading of the Declaration to the troops in the field, (Jraydon 
remarks: ''The Declaration • • • was with the utmost speed transmitted 
to the armies, and when received read to the respective regiments ; if it was 
not embraced with all the enthusiasm that has been ascribed to the event, it 
was at least hailed with acclamations, as no doubt any other Act of Congress, 
not flagrantly improper, would at that time have been." (Memoirs, p. 140.) 

It is not certain that there was any public speaking 'on the occasion* of 
reading the Declaration. There had been held in the Slate-House yard 
on 20tli of May a very large, and not entirely harmonious, meeting to con- 
sider the resolution of Congress, of 15th of May, recommending the Colo- 
nies to adopt such government as should best "conduce to the happiness and 
safety of their Constituents in particular, and America in general." At this 
meeting, doubtless there was warm debate. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 87 

sunshine patriot," published a few days before -the battle of 
Trenton, were in the mouths of every one going to join the 
army, and have since been often repeated. Paine may be a 
good philosopher, but he is not a soldier — he always kept out 
of danger. He is about five feet nine inches high, thin, and 
has a sottish look. 

In August, being desirous of having a shot at the Hessians, 
whom I considered as a set of horrid wretches that would 
hire themselves to commit any crime whatever, I gave up the 
command of a vessel to go out with the Quaker Light In- 
fantry. Several of those who signed the articles to go, when 
we were ordered to march, would gladly have stayed behind. 
Being determined on going myself, I was resolved to get all 
I could, and, acting as a sergeant, with a small party, took 
some of those who intended to give us the slip.* We went 
in a shallop to Trenton, where we encamped for several days.f 
We had in the tent I belonged to a Captain William Potts. 
He was a very stout fellow, and would have been thought by 
many people an excellent hand for such an expedition. He 
supplied us with plenty of tin cups and small articles of that 
kind. If he found anj^thing in that way in the camp that he 
wanted, he would mark it Tent 'No. 1. If it was claimed 
afterwards, he would declare it had the mark of our tent, and 
nobody should have it without fighting him, and this very 
few would do. We were obliged, however, at last to tell him 
that he must leave oft' this practice or leave the tent. He 
was a brave, good soldier; he now (1802) keeps a tavern in 
the Northern Liberties. We marched from Trenton to Bruns- 
wick, and crossed the river at Brunswick about the 25th of 
August, a remarkably hot day. We did not get over the 
river until ten o'clock. We marched to Woodbridge, which 

* Capt. John Morrll was one of them. He got up into a new house and 
took up the ladder. I got some shavings, and threatened to burn him out ; 
upon which he surrendered. He is a brave, good soldier. — Authok'3 
Note. 

I August 11, 1776. Several shallops, with troops for the camp, went 
from town yesterday, as [others] did also this morning [at] tlood. — Mak- 
shall's DlAKY. 



88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

is ten miles, and had jnst encamped when an express came in 
from Gen. Mercer informing us that he intended that night 
to attack the British on Staten Island, and requested those 
who chose to go on the expedition to march to Elizabethtown. 
Our company, although much fatigued with the morning's 
march, being exposed to a scorching sun, turned out to a man. 
Leaving our baggage, we set ofi' immediately. During the 
march several of the company fell with the excessive heat. 
Before sunset we reached Elizabethtown, and were paraded 
with a body of l^ew England troops. We were just going 
to naarch to the Point and embark when, fortunately, a violent 
gust arose which prevented it. The gust I have no doubt 
saved a number of us, for we afterwards learned the British 
were informed of our intention and well prepared to receive 
us. The next day we encamped at the Point in sight of the 
British troops. When marching to encamp we went several 
times round the guard-house at the Point, which I suppose 
was done to make them imagine we had more men than there 
really were. We could see the othcers of the British army 
looking at us from Staten Island with their spy-glasses. A 
few days after we encamped some of Miles' Rifle Company 
went without any orders from their otiicers to Staten Island, 
and with great deliberation loaded their pieces and fired at a 
breastwork the British had thrown wp in the marsh opposite 
the Point. When the riflemen first fired, a man we took to 
be an oificer ran from the breastwork along the causeway 
until he was at a considerable distance. His running with 
so much speed after he was out of all danger set all the camp 
laughing. The riflemen might as well have fired at the moon 
as at the troops behind the breastwork. The British fired a 
long time without any eflect. We were all astonished at 
their firing so badly. They at last killed one of the riflemen. 
Bateaux then went over and brought them oft". This, and 
some of the troops deserting, occasioned an order from Gen. 
Mercer that no person should go over in a boat or swim to 
the island. Frequently before this order, myself, with a 
number of others belonging to the company, had swam over. 
Although we went within musket shot of the British, they 



CIIARLESBIDDLE. 89 

never fired at us. In the tent with me was Captain Souder, 
P. M. Austin, and several other seafaring men. One night 
Gen. Mercer sent to know if we were willing to go upon an 
expedition in boats. AVe informed the messenger we would 
go anywhere the General thouglit proper to send us. About 
ten o'clock at night sixteen of us embarked in two small 
boats. We expected it was to take some of the British sen- 
tinels from Staten Island. The night was very dark, and it 
rained hard. About twelve o'clock we anchored near a sloop 
of ten guns, and all our company were anxious to board her ; 
and I am convinced we could easily have taken her, for, not 
expecting an attack, and the rain falling in torrents, I believe 
there was not a man upon deck, and probably all were asleep. 
However, the officer who commanded had his orders what to 
do, and would not make the attempt. Just before daylight 
we got un^er way and rowed up to the guard-house. . We 
found afterwards we were sent to intercept some Tories that 
were expected to cross at this place. When on guard at the 
waterside we suffered very much from the mosquitoes ; when 
off guard we spent our time very agreeably. One morning 
we were alarmed by the sentinels calling out that the British 

had landed. Potts was the firet out of our tent ; he d d 

his eyes if there were not ten thousand of them on the shore. 
One of the officers of Grubb's Battalion who heard him set 
off and ran to Elizabethtown, from whence he went home. 
Grubb swore he would advertise him. We were soon under 
arms in our shirts. It was, however, a false alarm, occasioned 
by some rails put on end along the fence in the night, which, 
as the day broke, were taken by one of the sentinels for the 
enemy. We remained here until relieved by what was very 
properly called the Flying Camp. They did not arrive until 
long after the time for which we engaged to serve. Our com- 
pany was composed chiefly of men who had been inured to 
hardships, and I believe would have fought well had they 
been brought to action. Cowperthwaite, our captain, is a 
brave officer. Humphreys, who has since been a Quaker 
preacher, was one of our lieutenants; his looks and manners 
are so much altered since his conversion that I can hardly 



90 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

keep from laughing when I meet him, which, as he lives 
near me, is very often. He sometimes seems himself inclined 
to laugh.* 

In 1766 some of our committee pressed the horses of Judge 
Allen, a worthy, respectable old gentleman, who used often 
to stop me to talk of my father, who was a great favorite with 
the judge. I had a dispute about taking the horses with one 
of the committee. They were most of them a bad set of 
fellows. Mr. Allen used to say that America was the finest 
country in the world, Pennsylvania the garden of America, 
Philadelphia the lirst city of America, and his house the best 
situated of any in Philadelphia. 

Soon after my return I sailed in the brig Greyhound for 
Port au Prince. We had a pair of swivels and some muskets, 
being sufficiently armed to keep off a boat. We also had six 
wooden guns. JSTothing remarkable happened until the 18th 
of September, when, in the evening, we saw two small 
schooners lying at anchor under the West Caicos. They 

* A somewhat amusing account of this military episode is given in " I^ox- 
Icy's Journal of the Campaign to Amboy, 1776." Collections of Hist. 
Soc'y of Pa., vol. 1. 

The following certificate refers to the same period: — 

Phila., Feb'y 24th, 1806. 
These are to certify whom it may Concern, That Capt. Charles Biddle 
joined the Quaker Light Infantry, as it was then called, Commanded by the 
subscriber. He joined it in Jan'y, 1776. Some time after, there was a 
Report in the City that the Roebuck Man-of-war was aground in the Bay of 
Delaware, when the Prove, ship Commanded by Capt. Read, was Fitted 
out to go down & attack her. I went with my com'y and offered to serve 
on Board as Marines. The Committee of Safety Returned us their thanks 
and said there was a company of marines belong to the ship, and they only 
wanted seamen, upon which Capt. Biddle, Capt. Souder, and some other 
Captains of vessels that then belonged to the said Com'y offered themselves 
as seamen and went Volunteers in the ship. In the summer of 1776, Capt. 
Biddle Left a ship he had then the Command of and went with the above 
named Co. into the Jerseys. While there, at the Request of Gen'l Mercer, 
he went as a Volunteer on an Expedition in Boats up the Sound and upon 
Every occasion behaved as a Good Soldier. The above all came under my 
notice. Given under my hand 

Jos. COWPEUTHWAIT, 

Capt'n at that time. 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 91 

weighed and stood toward us. As our vessel sailed heavily, I 
knew it would be in vain to run from them, and therefore 
hove to as if to engage them. This had the desired effect, 
for they soon hauled their wind and left us. We stood over 
all night for Ilispaniola, with a fresh* of wind. At daylight 
we unfortunately fell in with the Antelope of fifty guns, and 
about nine o'clock were taken. This ship was commanded 
by Captain Judd, and had been dispatched a few days before 
l)y the Admiral to cruise oft' Cape Frangois. The brig was a 
valuable prize, being loaded with flour, which was then much 
wanted in «Tamaica. Captain Judd kept my spy-glass, which 
Lieutenant Cadogan endeavored to get back for me. As he 
could not, he generously gave me his own, which was much 
better. They put Lieutenant ILarvey, two midshipmen, an 
officer belonging to some other ship, and ten seamen on board. 
They left on board belonging to the brig two young men, 
Messrs. Hunter and Fisher, who were passengers with me, 
and Goforth, a pilot. As the oflicers of the frigate Antelope 
were very negligent of their arms, I determined to endeavor 
to retake the bi-ig. Upon mentioning it to Hunter and Fisher, 
they immediately agreed to join me, and, after some persua- 
sion, Goforth also agreed to assist us. It was my opinion, if 
we could secure the oflicers below, there would be no difficulty 
with the seameir, as one of the men they put on board had 
been a barber in Philadelphia, and frequently mentioned his 
regret at leaving it. I conversed with him on the subject, 
and, finding him willing to join us, told him our intention. 
This man's name was McKenzie; he said he thought the best 
way would be for him to go below when the officers were 
asleep and cut their throats with a razor. As he was one of 
their own men, he could easily have done this; but neither re- 
capturing the brig nor anything else would have induced me to 
consent to so horrid a deed. It was agreed that Hunter and 
Fisher should keep the officers below, while Goforth and 
myself were to manage the seamen, and we were to begin 
soon after the watch was relieved at eight o'clock. I have 

* This quaint nautical expression is now obsolete. 



92 AUTOBIOGRAPIIYOF 

every reason to believe that just before the time we had fixed 
upon Goforth informed Mr. Harvey of our intention, for a 
little before eiijht he secured all the arms which before were 
lying carelessly on the quarter-deck, and took such precau- 
tions as put it out of our power to do anything. We arrived 
two or three days after this at Port Royal, and I was per- 
mitted with Hunter and Fisher to go on shore. At Kingston 
I met with Messrs. Cadwalader and Thomas Morris, Captain 
Miller, Mr. Daniel Major, and several other of my American 
friends and acquaintances, and spent my time as agreeably as 
a man conld do who had just been robbed of nearly all his 
property. The day after my arrival at Kingston I went on 
the wharf with several of my friends and met Lieutenant 
Harvey. He expressed himself very glad to see me, and 
requested I would go on board with him. As he had behaved 
very friendly, and my clothes were still on board the brig, I 
very readily consented. When we were a little way from 
the wharf, he told me the Admiral wanted to see me, and 
that he had threatened to break him for letting me go on 
shore. I begged he would let the boat's crew lay on their 
oars until I informed my friends that they need not wait for 
me. One of those friends has since told me he never was so 
much affected in his life as when I hailed them and said they 
need not stay for me, for he expected, from his knowledge of 
the Admiral, tluit he had ordered me to be taken up, and 
that he would treat me with great severity. I was taken 
that night on board an armed schooner commanded by Lieu- 
tenant James Cotes, a very worthy man. He went the next 
morning with Mr. Harvey and myself to the Admiral, Clark 
Gay ton, who stayed at Gi'eenwich. Gay ton was as great a 
ruffian as ever was hanged. At this time he w^as a miserable, 
sickly old man, much afflicted with the gout. When we 
went to his house, he was sitting in his balcony with a young 
mulatto wench. When Lieutenant Harvey informed him 
who I was, he took up a Philadelphia paper and read an 
account of the taking of some prizes by the Andrea Doria, 
commanded by my brother Nicholas. He inquired if I was 
brother to that rebel. I told him that iiian was my brother. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 93 

Ife then began to abuse him, the country, and everything in 
it ; wishing to God lie had " the damned Congress" in Jamaica. 
Smarting und»r my loss of property, and the ill-treatment of 
this man, my temper forsook me. I answered that he knew, 
situated as he at present was, he conld abuse my country or 
me without any danger. Enraged at this and something else 
that passed, he ordered Mr. Cotes to take me on board and 
put me in irons. Mv. Cotes and JSIr. Harvey staj-ed with him, 
while I walked to the boat with the crew. What they said 
to him must have induced him to change his orders, for I 
was not put in irons. Mr. Cotes told me afterwards the 
Admiral said to liarvej' and him he was sure by my eyes 
that I was a rebel. I was informed this man was born in 
Boston. Mr. Cotes, who behaved with the greatest kindness 
to me, begged if I was again taken before the Admiral that 
T would be more prudent. The attention of Mr. Cotes I im- 
[luted in a great measure to the friendship of Mr. Harvey. 
A person going to sea in war times should be careful of 
having any papers on board that may injure him. Probably 
the account of the captures made by my brother induced 
Gayton to behave with more severity than he otherwise 
would have done. He was, however — rest his soul — a great 
brute. In the fifth volume of the Naval Chronicle, he is men- 
tioned as a good and gallant officer. He may have been a 
good officer, but, If a})plied to him as a man, the word "good" 
would as well apply to Black Beard the Pirate. 

There was, at this time, on board the Admiral's ship, a 
young man of the name of Joseph Crathorne, a native of 
Philadelphia. He was taken some time before me, and 
entered on board the Admiral's ship as a midshipman. He 
came on board the brig when we first arrived, and not hav- 
ing the least suspicion of him, I mentioned several circum- 
stances to him that happened in Philadelphia after he sailed, 
which, from the questions put to me b}' the Admiral, he must 
have told him. I believe this man occasioned the ruin of 
many of his countrymen by informing against, and' having 
them detained as prisoners. 

Lieut. Cotes being ordered on a cruise, T was sent on board 



94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the Antelope, then lying at Port Royal. The officers all he- 
haved extremely well to me, particularly one of the lieuten- 
ants, who informed me privately, a few days after my being 
on board, that he had orders to search my chest and trunk. 
An hour after he had given me the information, when I had 
put away everything that could do me any injury if found, 
he had me called, and ordered me, in a peremptory manner, 
to give him my keys, which, when he received, he made a 
most diligent search, turning everything out and examining 
every article. I was afterwards told Crathorne informed the 
Admiral, if they searched, they would probably find my uni- 
form coat, and, if I had not received intimation of the search, 
it would have been found, for I had imprudently taken it 
with me. The lieutenant who gave me the information was 
as good an officer, and as warmly attached to his country as 
an}^ man in the fleet. He knew if a uniform had been found 
it would occasion my being ill treated, and answer no good 
purpose whatever. 

When the fleet was to sail, which was the beginning of 
January, 1777, 1 was informed the Admiral intended to send 
me to England in a sloop-of-war that was going to convoy 
the fleet. This I was determined to avoid if possible. My 
friends from Kingston having liberty to see me, four of them 
agreed to come down in a boat in the night and take me otl". 
This, on their part, was a very hazardous enterprise, for, had 
they been taken in the attempt, they would have been pun- 
ished severely. For two nights they attended, but it was 
impossible for me to get clear of the sentinels, who probably 
had orders to be particularly attentive to me. Finding my 
escape could not be made in this way, I tried several other 
methods of escape, without effect— one was, dressed in the 
clothes of a mulatto girl. In this dress I should have got 
ashore one night but for one of the midshipmen, who was 
too inquisitive. Had he known me, he would not have 
stopped me. ■ The evening before the fleet sailed, a small 
sloop, bound to Cape J^icola Mole, anchored at Port Royal. 
My friends at Kingston intormed me of her. She v/as com- 
manded by Capt. Paxton, a very worthy Englishman, that 



CHARLESBIDDLE. 95 

had long sailed out of Philadelphia, and would have done 
anything to have served me. In the night, as upon all such 
occasions, there was a good deal of noise, and confusion on 
hoard, during which a small boat came alongside with two 
men who agreed to take me on board the sloop. I took 
nothing with me but the clothes on my back, a little money, 
a pair of pocket pistols, and under my coat, a cutlass. We 
soon got on board, and, the land-wind springing up soon after, 
we set sail, and at daylight were abreast of Rock Fort, which 
is about [ten] miles from Port Roj-al. I now concluded 
myself perfectly safe, and my good friend Paxton appeared 
as much rejoiced as myself. He requested me, as I had been 
up all night, to go below and sleep. I laid down in my 
clothes, and was soon in a sound sleep from which I was 
wakened by hearing Paxton say, "By G-d ! the Admiral's 
barge is coming after us." It was now perfectly calm. I 
went immediately upon deck, took up the glass, and could 
plainly perceive in the boat one Sims, an American that was 
a Master's mate. As soon as he boarded us, not observing 
me, he ran below. I Avas on deck with Paxton, and, advising 
him to abuse me before Sims for deceiving him, I called to 
Sims from the deck, and inquired if it was me he wanted. 
He ran immediately up, and was much more pleased at seeing 
me than I was him. He requested me to go in the boat, 
which I immedtately did, being now anxious to get away, 
fearing much they would take Paxton (who acted his part 
very well) as well as myself. We had not been in the 
boat five minutes when the sea-breeze set in and blew so 
strong that if we had received it before the barge boarded us 
she never could have come up with us. No officer in the 
ship would have pursued me so far but Sims, for, being him- 
self an American, he was afraid if he did not take me he 
would have been suspected of knowing my intention and 
assisting me. He declared if he had not found me he never 
would have returned to the ship. When we reached Port 
Royal I was taken to the capstan-house and confined in irons. 
In this infernal place they kept me some time, during which 
no person was allowed to see me, nor did I speak five words 



96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

durins; the whole time. From this place they took me on 
board the Antelope, where I was again treated by the officers 
witli great kindness. Poor Hunter came on board to see me, 
and cried like a child when he understood I had been in irons. 
All my thoughts were employed in contriving how to make 
my escape, which I almost despaired of eiiecting, when one 
of the lieutenants, who had been a midshipman under Captain 
Stirling with my brother Nicholas, and who had a great 
aifection for him, advised me to apply to Captain Judd for 
liberty to go on shore at Port Royal. Judd was very seldom 
sober in the evening, and one night when he had taken a 
larger does than usual, and was staggering along the quarter- 
deck, I applied to him for leave to go ashore. He told me, 
"yes; go at any time; he did not care a damn about me." 
The lieutenant, who heard him, immediately ordered a boat 
to take me on shore, and in a few minutes I had all my things 
in the boat and set off for Port Royal, where we soon landed. 
Lieutenant Cotes was then fitting out, and I was determined 
not to leave Port Royal without seeing and expressing my 
gratitude to him for the attention he had paid me. When I 
told liini Captain.Judd had given me leave to go, he expressed 
great satisfaction ; and when I rose to take my leave of him 
he insisted upon my spending the evening with him, which 
I would gladly have dispensed witli, being not perfectly at ease, 
but I coidd not get off. We took an affectionate leave about 
two o'clock in the morning. As soon as it was daylight I 
went in a wherry to Kingston, and from thence to my friend 
David Major, a few miles from town. 

During the time I was at Mr. Major's we had an account 
of the British marching through the Jerseys and driving our 
troops before them, and it was one night reported that Gene- 
ral Washington was killed. An honest Scotchman who knew 
the general swore he was very glad to hear it, " for he was 
too gude a mon to be hanged;" one or the other he thought 
must be his fate. ■ 

Wliile I made my home at Major's I used to come from his 
Pen to town almost every evening. One night, when I was 
at the coffee-house, a Frenchman came in, that was taken a 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 97 

few days before on liis passage from Philadelphia for His- 
paniola. The people crowded round him eager to inquire 
about the army. One of them asked him if the British troops 
were in Philadelphia. " Yes." " And what are they doing, 
hanging up the rebels?" " ISTo," says the Frenchman, " they 
came there to be put in gaol." He then gave an account of 
the battle of Trenton, of which we had not heard before. 
This gave great pleasure to the few Americans that were in 
the coffee-house, some of whom were so imprudent as to 
laugh out. For my own part I had suffered so much for my 
want of caution that the pleasure I felt was kept to myself. 

It has been justly observed that what we think the greatest 
misfortune frequently turns out the greatest benefit. This 
was the case with me at this time, for I thought when Sims 
retook me nothing more unfortunate could have happened, 
but it ultimately proved of great advantage. When I .left 
Philadelphia several people had sent money with me, which 
I had saved and contrived to get ashore to my friend Major, 
who wishing to be concerned in a trade to the Mole, pur- 
chased a prize brig, which I took part of. We loaded her 
with salt, got a Capt. Carr, an Englishman, to command 
her, and sailed for St. Nicola Mole. We had a number of 
Americans, who had been robbed of their property, on board, 
and a young woman of South Carolina, of the name of ]!!»relly 
Rose, daughter of a merchant of Charleston who had come 
out to seek her fortune. We arrived at the Mole after a 
passage of six days. The day we went in, a privateer from 
Charleston arrived. Had we fallen in with her at sea, we 
should have been a good prize, being under English colors. 
I soon sent the brig back loaded with flour. Concluding to 
stay here some time, I wrote to Mr. Isaac Caton, who had a 
very good house at the Mole, to beg he would let me have it 
until he arrived. He was then at Cape Fran^'ois, whence he 
sent me a very friendly answer, giving me the use of his 
house and stores, I immediately took possession, and several 
vessels valued themselves* upon me, so that if I could have 

* Probably an obsolete expression, meaning that they plaeed their business 
in the hands of the writer. 

7 



98 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

contented mj^self here, I should have made a fortune; but my 
anxiety to get home induced me to purchase one-half of a 
schooner from Captain Bristol Brown, of Virginia. At this 
time they gambled very high at the Mole, and at the head of 
these gamblers was the governor. Any person who had 
money was welcome to the table. They played at what they 
called vingt-un, or twenty-one. JSTothing was allowed to be 
staked but gold, and every evening large sums were won and 
lost. The first night I went to look at them, a Mr. Marignolt 
(a German who had lived many years with Mr. Meredith a 
merchant in Philadelphia, and afterwards settled in this place, 
where he had acquired, with a fair character, a handsome 
fortune) was dealing, which was what few of these gamblers 
would do, for the dealer bets against all the table, and must 
therefore risk much more than those who do not deal. He 
was confused at seeing me, and took an opportunity of telling 
me it was only by chance he came there, and begged I. would 
not mention to any of the Americans my seeing him there, 
as it would perhaps injure him. I told him if he would 
promise me never to go again, no one should know it from 
me. He readily promised he would not. However, he went 
soon after, and in two nights lost everything he had. I was 
informed by several who were at the table with him, that he 
left it about two o'clock in the morning very much agitated. 
It was generally supposed he drowned himself, for he never 
was seen or heard of after he left the table. Thus ended poor 
Marignolt, who was an honest, friendly man, and, before he 
took to the gaming table, a respectable merchant. He was 
one of the last men of my acquaintance I should have sus- 
pected of gaming. He was a very sober, quiet, reserved man, 
and was in a good way of business. It was diverting to look 
at the countenances of many of these people at tlie time they 
were playing; their extravagant joy when fortune was favor- 
able, and their execrations when losing considerably, were 
expressed in so ludicrous a manner as would have extorted a 
laugh from any one that saw them. 

We loaded the schooner, which was called the Three Sisters, 
in April, and I embarked on board her. As there were a 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 99 

number of British cruisers on the coast, I was determined to 
get into the first port we could make. The first land we 
made on the coast was near Cape Lookout, and the wind 
being fair for Beaufort in Korth Carolina, we entered the 
harbor. Beaufort is a pleasant little village on the sea-coast. 
Here it was I first became acquainted with Miss Hannah 
Shepard, whom I afterwards married. Mr. Jacob Shepard, 
the father of Miss Shepard, had been a respectable merchant 
of Newbern, and removed here on account of his health. 
Taking a voyage to Philadelphia, he was seized soon after his 
return with the smallpox. Notwithstanding he was much 
beloved by the people here, they dreaded the smallpox so 
much that they were afraid to go near the house, so that it 
was diflicult for the family to procure the necessaries of life, 
and impossible to get any one out of the family to nurse him. 
Mr. Shepard died in a few days extremely regretted by all 
who knew him. His widow, finding this a very healthy 
place, concluded to reside here. Her daughter spent her 
time between an uncle Smith's near ITewbern and her 
mother. Having sold the cargo, loaded the schooner and 
sent her to BroM'u at the INIole, I set out, by the way of ISTorth 
River and Portsmouth, for Philadelphia. At Portsmouth I 
called on Mrs. Brown, the wife of Capt. Brown who was con- 
cerned with me in the schooner. She was an amiable woman, 
and told me her husband had written to supply me with 
everything in her power. I took passage here for Baltimore, 
from thence to Philadelphia. 

I found my mother and all the family had, on account of 
the war, removed to Reading. After going there and stay- 
ing some time with them, the first of July I set ofl:" with 
Col. Jacob Morgan and Mr. Charles Shoemaker, for Charles- 
ton, South Carolina. The intention of these gentlemen was 
to purchase goods, mine to see my brother who was there in 
the Randolph. When the Randolph sailed from Philadelphia 
bound on a cruise, February, 1777, in a gale of wind they 
lost all her masts and boltsprit. They were so rotten they 
went over the side, notwithstanding the yards and topmasts 
were down. It was very difficult to refit her here. She had 



100 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

two mainmasts put in that were shivered to pieces with light- 
ning. After staying some time with my brother, who was 
very dear to me, I went to Beaufort. A few days after my 
being there, when at the house of an acquaintaince a little 
way from the town, a man came from Beaufort and informed 
me the Three Sisters was off the Bar. I hurried down and 
found her standing from the Bar towards a vessel to leeward 
of her. It surprised everj^ one on the beach ; however, the 
mystery was cleared up at night, for the schooner's boat came 
on shore with all her crew. It appeared, the vessel to leeward 
was a cruiser from 'New York, who had hoisted a signal of 
distress, and by that infamous contrivance induced the cap- 
tain of the schooner to go down and speak her. Although 
I was very much enraged at the captain when he came on 
shore and informed me how he was taken, yet, when I con- 
sidered he could have gone to speak her only from motives 
of humanity, I was reconciled to him. Col. Morgan joining 
me at this time, we set oft" for Philadelphia. I^othing in the 
country at this time had the appearance of distress ; the peo- 
ple ever3^wliere as we passed appeared cheerful and contented. 
The day we arrived at Baltimore, the British Fleet appeared 
in the Bay. The town was in great confusion, and every one 
that could do it was moving out, expecting the British 
would land and take the town, which they could very easily 
have done. As it would have detained them a very little time, 
and they could have done much mischief to many an inno- 
cent person, it is surprising they did not land, for at this 
time, driven about as they were, they could expect nothing 
but what they could get by plunder. At the tavern where 
we stopped a company was collected of very tine young 
fellows. They had chosen a foreigner for their captain, 
because they supposed he was better acquainted with mili- 
tary matters than any other they could get. As soon as 
the fleet was in sight, he sent in his resignation. The com- 
pany deliberated what they would do with him ; several pro- 
posed hanging him, and had he come amongst them at this 
time, if they had not hanged him, they would have treated 
him with some violence. They afterwards obliged him to 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 101 

leave Baltimore, and lie now resides in Philadelphia. He is 
a quiet, inoffensive man, very unfit to. command a company 
of high-spirited young men. Mrs. Lux, a lady who lived 
adjoining the town at this time, showed as much love for 
her country, and fortitude, as was ever done hy any of the 
Roman matrons. As soon as she was informed the fleet was 
off the town, and the troops would probably land, she went 
into the town where her only son, Mr. George Lux,* of whom 
she was doatingly fond, was sleeping. She awakened him, 
and, having his accoutrements brought, told him to hurry 
down and join his comrades in defending the town. I knew 
Mrs. Lux well. She was a ver}^ amiable, pious, good woman. 
We remained in Baltimore until we found the fleet intended 
to go up to the head of Elk. We then left it, and went to 
Reading, from thence I went to Philadelphia, and there en- 
gaged to go in an armed brig belonging to some of. my 
friends to France. She was built by Mr. Eyre, for a priva- 
teer, but I was determined never to go privateering, consider- 
ing the crew of a privateer little better than a band of robbers. 
The British having landed at the head of Elk, I went to 
our army with Captain Barry and some others. The roads 
at this time were continually crowded with people going to 
or returning from the army. We saw the British Army 
near Brandy wiiLe ; our troops were in high spirits, and I was 
in hopes whenever attacked would give a good account of 
the enemy. Being anxious to get the brig to sea, and not 
expecting an engagement soon, I returned to Philadelphia. 
We could distinctly hear the firing at this battle in Phila- 
delphia, where prayers were offered up for both parties. 
There was an awful silence most of the day. People were 
coming in every minute from the scene of action, scarce any 
two of whom agreed in their account of the battle. We soon, 
however, found that our troops were worsted and retreating 
towards the city. With some others we wanted to form an 
artillery company, but I soon found nothing could be done. 

* Mr. George Lux married the daughter of Edward Biddle, the writer's 
brother. 



102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Some that promised to join went to take care of their fami- 
lies. A remarkable circumstance took place at the action. 
A brave young man of the name of Scull, a cousin of mine, 
who commanded a company in Hampton's Regiment, was 
going to make an attack upon some troops that were advan- 
cing toAvards him. When he was going to fire, one of his 
company, deceived by the uniform, called out they were 
Americans. The ofhcer who commanded tliem, hearing 
what was said (for they were very near), with great presence 
of mind called out, "Don't fire, we are your friends;" and, 
advancing close to Captain Scull, gave his fire, whieh proved 
fatal to most of the company. Captain Scull escaped unhurt. 
As the owner concluded to send the brig up the river to 
Trenton, I took on board every person that applied to go up 
until we had as many as we could stow. Many of these un- 
fortunate people who were leaving the city knew not how 
they were to subsist. Some of them had wives and children 
without a morsel of provisions to give them. The day after 
we left town, we anchored off" Bristol,* I landed there, and 
found the place full of people flying from Philadelphia, many 
of whom were my acquaintances. I furnished my passengers 
provisions while they remained on board the brig. We lay 
off Bordentown. A number of vessels followed us up, 
amongst others the Washington and Efiingham frigates. 
As my brig was armed, I lay in the stream to prevent any 
shallop going down without a pass. At this time Mr. Riche 
lived at an elegant place opposite to Bordentown, and Mr. 
Kirkbride near him. Before the war they were intimate 
friends, but, taking opposite sides, Riche being a Tory, and 
Kirkbride a Whig, they became inveterate enemies. They 

* A few days before I left the city, having more hard money than I had 
occasion for, 1 buried, in the celhir of the house where I lodged, thirty half 
Johannes in a bag. After my return to Philadelphia in 1784, I went with 
Capt. Chas. Craig to the house, then inhabited by Mr. Hugh Lenox. Find- 
ing there was a new cellar door, I told Craig it was a bad sign, as it was 
probable they had been searching the cellar. However, I went down and 
soon found the money, loose — the bag, as may be supposed, was enthely 
rotten. — Author's Notk. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 103 

were both hospitable men, and I often dined at their houses ; 
however, as Mr. Riche had a number of fine daughters I was 
much more at his house than at Mr. Kirkbride's ; and Mr. 
liiche was always glad to have me with him, as my being 
there often prevented his being robbed or insulted. The 
daughters I frequently took over the river to see Mrs. Field, 
their aunt. This gave great ofifence to Kirkbride, who, after 
expressing his surprise that I could take any pleasure in the 
company of Tories, informed me it was contrary to law to 
take them out of the State, and that he must stop my boat if 
I attempted again to go over the river with them. I told 
him tlio law was certainl}^ not -intended to stop young ladies 
from crossing the river, and if he attempted to stop the boat 
I would bring the brig's guns to bear ujDon his house and 
beat it about his ears. After this he was so much offended 
that he never spoke to me. Some time after this Mr. Ri^he's 
daughter Mary* went into Philadelphia to see some of her 
friends, and it was asserted tliat when the British sent up 
troops to destroy the shipping at Bordentown Miss Riche 
requested the officer who commanded the expedition to burn 
Mr. Kirkbride's house. The house was burnt down by the 
British, but I do not believe she ever made such a request, 
for although she detested Kirkbride (and with good reason, 
for he had her father taken when ill of the gout, and confined 
in ISTewtown gaol), she was of too amiable a disposition to 
make such a request. It is probable that the ofiicer who 
went on this command had heard from some of the refugees 
in the city, of Mr. Kirkbride's ill usage of them. 

The clay after the battle of Germantown I set off for 
Reading. On my way I stayed two days with our army. 
They were very badly provided, but in good spirits. Many 
of the oflicers were of opinion they would have got into 
Philadelphia if they had not attacked Chew's house. After 
remaining some time in Reading I set off with Mr. Collinson 

* See "Inscriptions in Christ Church Burial Ground," p. 14. Mary 
Rich6 married Charles Swift, and was the mother of Mr. Charles Swift 
Riche and of Mr. John Swift, Mayor of Philadelphia. 



104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Read* for Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Read was going 
to purchase goods, in which I was concerned. When we left 
Reading I went in a sulky, he on horseback. Before we 
reached Lancaster he begged I would let him ride in the 
sulky as he was fatigued a horseback. As I knew the road 
for a considerable distance was very bad for a sulky, I readily 
consented. When we exchanged I kept ahead of him to 
Fredericksburg, where, being over the worst part of the road, 
I waited for him, and it was two days before he came up 
with me. He was so heartily tired that he declared no con- 
sideration w^hatever would induce him to ride another day 
in it. I now took the sulky, and we proceeded on. Coming 
one evening late to our stage, I found a number of people at 
it, and was fearful we should have a bad lodging, so as Mr. 
Read came up to the door I told him to pretend to be very 
ill. This he did, and getting him near the fire, I inquired if 
he thought it was the smallpox he had. At mention of 
this many of the men started, but when he said he had some 
breaking out and was fearful it was the smallpox, we soon 
had a clear house. We were obliged to inform the landlord 
of the trick, or he would have run off with his guests. He 
was angry at first, but we soon pacified him. We proceeded 
on without anything material happening. One day when I 
was a good way ahead of Mr. Read in jSTorth Carolina, he 
said he heard a great noise in the woods which alarmed him 
and frightened liis horse. When he came up to what occa- 
sioned the alarm he found it was the wheels of a cart loaded 
with tar, one spoonful of which would have eased the horses 
and prevented the disagreeable noise. 

At Charleston I found my brother I^icholas, who had been 
out on a short cruise during which he took a sloop called the 
True Briton, of twenty guns, and some other vessels that were 
under her convoy. The captain of the True Briton, when 
leaving Jamaica, expressed a wish that he might fall in with 

* CoUinson Read was a member of the bar of Philadelphia, and married, 
in 1773, Mary, daughter of Captain Wm. MoFunn, so frequently mentioned 
in this narrative. Capt. McFunn married Lydia, sister of Charles Biddle, 
Dec. 3, 1752. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 105 

the Randolph, which ship he heard was cruising oif Carolina. 
When the Randolph was bearing down upon him he kept up 
a constant fire, hut when the Randolph got within pistol-shot, 
and fired a gun, she struck her colors. Captain Shaw, who 
commanded the marines, a' gallant young officer, was a re- 
markably thin man. lie told me he never thought himself in 
any danger from a shot until one of the True Briton's carried 
away a mizzen-shroud of the Randolph's. lie then thought 
himself in som.e danger. AVhen I arrived in Charleston, they 
were fitting out some vessels that were to sail w^ith the Ran- 
dolph to attack two frigates that were oft* the Bar. The day 
after my arrival Mr. Drayton sent me a note informing me he 
had authority to oft'er me the command of a ship called the 
Volunteer. I returned him my thanks, and accepted the 
command. I went on board on Monday, and the fleet was to 
sail the Saturday following. At the time appointed for sail- 
ing we had not more than fifty men, and few of these seamen. 
Under these circumstances I wrote to Mr. Drayton, that 
manned and fitted as she was I could not acquire any honor 
to my country or myself in going out in her, and would 
therefore prefer going a volunteer in the Randolph. I ac- 
cordingly gave up the command of the Volunteer and went 
on board the Randolph. The British frigates sailing away 
from the Bar be|pre we could get over, I took an aft'ectionate, 
and as it proved to be a last, leave of my brother, and returned 
to Newbern, where I had engaged to take the command of a 
ship called the Cornelia, take a concern in her and fit her out. 
During my being at Charleston this time, there was a 
dreadful fire happened that destroyed a great part of the town. 
The niglit of the fire a company of us supped together, and 
we were sitting up when they began to cry fire. Had there 
been any engines, it would have soon been put out, but, as no 
water was near, the people did not know what to do. In the 
house where the fire originated, a woman was brought out 
just as we got there, but she was burnt in so shocking a 
manner that she expired in a few minutes. Finding the 
flames spreading very fast, I went to tho house of the sailing- 
master of the Randolph, who lived near where the fire began, 



106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

in order to assist his wife. I found her busy in removing her 
goods from her shop, in one corner of which I saw a small 
cask with the head put loosely upon it. Thinking it coifee 
or tea, I took it in my arms and carried it out. Just as I 
went from the door a servant girl told me to take care, it 
was a cask of powder I had under my arm. The fire was 
then falling very fast near me. I covered it as well as I could 
with my coat, took it to the waterside and threw it in. If 
the girl had not informed me it was powder, I should certainly 
have been blown up. The fire after raging a great while was 
at last stopped by blowing up several houses. Upon my 
return to ]^ewbern, I found it necessary to take out all the 
lower masts and boltsprit from the Cornelia. This, in a 
country where you could scarce get a seaman, was a very 
troublesome business, and obliged me to be almost constantly 
on board. The hull also wanted a good deal of repair. 
"While fitting out this ship, we had an account of the loss of 
the Randolph. It is impossible to describe what I felt on 
this occasion. I could get no sleep for several nights, and, as 
some of the fleet had returned to Charleston, I was deter- 
mined to go there and inquire into the particulars of the 
unfortunate accident. I set ofi:' from !N"ewbern in company 
with Major Lucas, who was going to join his regiment in 
Georgia. During the journey I had many melancholy re- 
fl.ections ; it was very different from my last, when I went to 
see and enjoy the company of a much-loved brother. I ar- 
rived at Charleston in the evening, and went to Mrs. Dennis's 
where I had formerly lodged. She was a native of Phila- 
delphia, and knew my brother and the family well, and 
always expressed a great regard for my brother as well as 
myself. As soon as she saw me she took me into a private 
room, and told me she was extremely glad to see me, that an 
affair had happened that had given her a great deal of pain, 
that Capt. Morgan who commanded a State brig, and was 
out in the fleet with my brother, had given a toast that re- 
flected very much on him. I felt a gloomy pleasure at the 
thought of calling him out; but I immediately sent a mes- 
sage to him by Major Lucas, desiring he would meet me 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 107 

with his friend and a pair of pistols, and told Lucas to get 
him to fix on as early an hour as possible. In a short time 
Morgan called on me with Major Lucas. He told me the 
toast he had given was, " More wisdom to those at the head 
of our navy ;" that he meant it for those who fitted out our 
ships; that no man ever loved and esteemed another. more 
than he did my brother, and that he would at any time have 
risked his life to have served him ; that, if I Avished it, he 
would give me from under his hand what he now asserted to 
be true. As I knew Morgan to be a brave, good oflicer, Mdiat 
he said was perfectly satisfactory. I had some reason after- 
wards to suppose that Morgan had displeased Mrs. Dennis 
by not marrying a relation of hers, to whom, it was said, he 
had paid his addresses. Had I known what was long after- 
wards told me respecting the conduct of Sullivan, who com- 
manded the ship General Moultrie, I should have sent Lucas 
to him. It appeared from the testimony of Mr. Davis, for- 
merly of South Carolina, who now keeps the Red Springs in 
Virginia, and was one of the Randolph's crew picked up by 
the Yarmouth, that they first discovered the Yarmouth about 
one o'clock P. M., to windward standing for them. At three 
o'clock she approached so near that they took her for a ship 
of the line, and one of the Randolph's crew that had deserted 
from the Yarmauth, said she was a ship of seventy-four guns, 
and that it was her bearing down upon them. As soon as 
my brother was certain that she was a ship of the line, he 
hove out a signal to make sail, which was instantly obeyed 
by all the fleet but the General Moultrie, wdio lay with her 
maintop sail to the mast, so that Captain Biddle was obliged 
to engage the Yarmouth or sacrifice the General Moultrie. 
It is probable he expected to cripple the Yarmouth, which 
he in some measure did, and very likely would have efi'ectually 
done it but for the unfoi'tunate "accident that happened. One 
of the men picked up by the Yarmouth (which took four of 
them oft" a piece of the wreck three days after the action) sailed 
with me from Baltimore. He told me he was stationed at 
one of the quarter-deck guns near Capt. Biddle, who early in 
the action was wounded in the thigh. He fell, but imme- 



108 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

diately sitting up again, and encouraging his crew, told them 
it was only a slight touch he had received. He ordered a 
chair, and one of the surgeon's mates was dressing him at 
the time of the explosion. None of the men saved could 
tell by what means the accident happened. Mr. Davis told 
me that the Randolph fired four broadsides to the Yarmouth's 
one, and that she was in a perfect blaze from the time the 
firing first began until the explosion. Captain Morgan told 
me he thought it was the ship the Randolph was engaged 
with that had blown up, and he bore away to inquire how 
Captain Biddle was, and had the trumpet in his hand, going 
to hail, before he found his mistake. Thus fell in the twenty- 
eighth year of his age one of the best and bravest of men, 
and as gallant and well-disciplined a crew as ever sailed the 
ocean. My brother was brought up to the sea. In 1770, 
when a war was expected between Great Britain and Spain, 
he went to London and entered as a midshipman with Cap- 
tain Stirling. When the dift'erence was settled between the 
two countries, although Capt. Stirling was unwilling to part 
with him, being anxious to go on the expedition under 
Commodore Phipps, he left Stirling and entered before the 
mast. He was afterwards made coxswain of the barge. 
Upon the breaking out of the American war, he came out 
and entered into the service of his country. He was a re- 
markably handsome young man, and very cheerful and enter- 
taining. I believe he never drank a quart of liquor in his 
life. The following certificate I received from Mr. John 
Davis, of Virginia. 

"I, John Davis, at present keeper of the Red Springs, 
Botetourt County, Virginia, do hereby certify, that in Feb- 
ruary, 1778, I sailed in the ship General Moultrie from 
Charleston in company with the Randolph, Captain Biddle. 
That, on the 7th of March following, at one P. M., we discov- 
ered a sail standing for us, when the Randolph made a signal 
to heave to. About four P. M., Captain Biddle hove out a 
signal to make sail. We then spoke him, and Captain Biddle 
told us that one of his crew had deserted from the British 
ship Yarmouth of 74 guns, and he knew the ship to wind- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 109 

ward to be her — and from her appearance lie had no doubt it 
was her; notwithstanding which, Sullivan did not make 
sail, and the Randolph was obliged to engage the Yarmouth 
or sacrifice our ship. The Yarmouth hailed us as he passed. 
We answered, 'the Polly, from Charleston,' and that our con- 
voy was ahead. They then hailed the Randolph ; and imme- 
diately after engaged. The Randolph appeared to fire four 
or five broadsides to the Yarmouth's one, mitil she blew up, 
when Sullivan hauled down his colors, and we should have 
been taken but for Captain Blake, who commanded the 
marines. He insisted npon our making sail, and such was 
the confusion on board the Yarmouth, or she was so much 
injured during the engagement, that they took no note of us. 
To the truth of the above I am ready at any time to make 
oath. 

(Signed) J. Davis. 

We, the subscribers, lodgers in the house of Mr. Davis, 
heard him declare the above account of the engagement be- 
tween the Randolph and Yarmouth, and of the conduct of 
Sullivan, to be true. 

(Signed) Richard Myncreeff, 
Robert C. Latimer. 

Aug. 21, 1801." 

A 

The following lines upon Captain Beauclerk, killed at Car- 
thagena, would apply as well to Captain Nicholas Biddle. 

" Sweet were his manners as his soul was great, 
And ripe his worth as immature his fate ; 

Each tender grace that joy and love inspires, 
Living he mingled with his martial fires. 

" The blast that nips my youth will conquer thee ; 
It strikes the bud, the blossom, and the tree."* 



* " Nicholas Biddle was the ninth son of William Biddle, of New Jersey, 
who had removed to the city of Philadelphia previously to his birth, and 
where this child was born in 1750 [Sept. 10]. Young Biddle went to sea 
at thirteen, and from that early age appears to have devoted himself to the 
calling with ardor and perseverance. After several voyages, and suffering 



110 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

After a short stay in Charleston, I returned to Kewbern, 
and applied mj^self diligently in fitting out the ship. Owing 
to many disappointments, I could not get her ready to go 
down the river until the month of August. I had six iron 
and fourteen wooden guns, and seventy men, not more than 
five of whom could be called seamen. I lay three weeks 

much in the way of shipwreck, he went to EngUind, and by means of letters 
was rated as a midshipman on board a British sloop-of-war, commanded by 
Captain, afterwards Admiral, Sterling. He subsequently entered on board 
one of the vessels sent toward the North Pole, under the Hon. Captain 
Phipps, where he found Nelson, a volunteer like himself. Both were 
made coxswains by the commodore. This was in 1773, and the difficulties 
were coming to a head. In 1775, Mr. Biddle returned home, prepared to 
share his country's fortunes in weal or woe. 

"The first employment of Mr. Biddle in the public service was in com- 
mand of a galley called the Camden, fitted out by the colony for the de- 
fence of the Delaware. From this station he was transferred to the service 
of Congress, or put into the regular marine [Dec. 22, 1775], as it then existed, 
and given the command of the brig Andrea Doria, 14. In this vessel he 
does not appear to have had much share in the combat with the Glasgow, 
though present in. the squadron and in the expedition against New Provi- 
dence. His successful cruise to the eastward in the Doria has been related 
in the body of the work, and on his return he was appointed to the Ran- 
dolph, 32, the vessel in which he perished. 

"In the action with the Yarmouth, Captain Biddle was severely wounded 
in the thigh, and is said to have been seated in a chair, with the surgeon 
examining his hurt, when his ship blew up. His death occurred at the early 
age of twenty- seven, and he died unmarried, though engaged at the time to 
a lady in Charleston. 

"There is little question that Nicholas Biddle would have risen to high 
rank and great consideration had his life been spared. Ardent, ambitious, 
fearless, intelligent, and persevering, he had all the qualities of a great naval 
captain, and though possessing some local family intluence perhaps, he rose 
to the station he filled at so early an age by personal merit. For so short a 
career, scarcely any other had been so brilliant, for though no victories over 
regular cruisers accompanied his exertions, he had ever been successful until 
the fatal moment when he so gloriously fell. His loss was greatly regretted 
in the midst of the excitement and viscissitudes of a revolution, and can 
scarcely be appreciated by those who do not understand the influence such a 
character can produce on a small and infant service." — Cooper's Naval His- 
tory, vol. i. p. 120. See, also, Portfolio for October, 1809, and Sanderson's 
Eminent Philadelphians. 

See note D. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. Ill 

down the river exercising the crew in working the ship, 
sending down the yards and topmasts, and doing everything 
I could to make them useful and prepare them for action. I 
had a tally upon all the running rigging, with what it was 
called written on it. By this means they were soon useful. 
As there were several cruisers off the Bar, I wanted to be pre- 
pared as well as it was possible before we left JSTewbern. I 
told Mr. Singleton, one of the owners, that, at the season of 
the year we were going to lie at Ocracock, it was probable 
we should have a gale of wind, and he had better get a new 
cable. He told me he thought what we had would do very 
well, and, as he was going down with me to attend the load- 
ing of the ship, I said nothing further to him about it. 
When we anchored in the Road, which is an exceedingly 
bad one, there was every appearance of a gale of wind. The 
pilot requested I would let him go on shore, as he had a family, 
and could be of no service if an accident happened to 'the 
ship. I readily consented, but, when Mr. Singleton was 'go- 
ing into the boat, I stopped him, and reminded him of what 
passed in JSTewbern, and told him, if the cables were good 
enough for me and the crew, they were for him, and he should 
not go on shore. He was much surprised, and endeavored to 
persuade me to let him go with the pilot; but, as I thought 
he had behaved wrong in not procuring a new cable, I was 
determined he stould not go on shore. It blew very hard in 
the night, and poor Singleton suffered so much that I was 
sincerely sorry for having detained him. The next day, the 
gale abating, he went on shore, and, although we were de- 
tained here, for the remainder of our cargo, upwards of twenty 
days, he never came on board. It is a bad Road, and dan- 
gerous at the season of the year we were there, especially 
with bad cables. I never went on shore, being fully em- 
ployed exercising my crew, as I expected to be attacked as 
soon as I went over the bar. 

While I was fitting out the shif), a gentleman of the name 
of O'lsTeal arrived from France. He came to America to enter 
our arm3\ He took up his quarters at the house at which I 
put up (Mr. Rainsford, an honest seaman, who. kept the best 



112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

house in ISTewbern). From his name it would be supposed 
he could speak good English ; he spoke, however, very little. 
The first night he came, finding at supper that he had a diffi- 
culty in calling for something he wanted, I spoke to the ser- 
vant and told him what it was. O'lS^eal, finding I understood 
something of the language, came round the table and seated 
himself next to me. He expressed much pleasure at finding 
some person in the house who could understand him, and 
then he gave the history of his life and adventures. He 
was one of the most incessant talkers that ever lived. If he 
had spoken slowly, which few of his countrymen do, I should 
not have understood one-half of what he said, but he talked so 
fast that I did not understand one word in ten. I was sorely 
grieved that he had heard me translate his French to the 
servant. Recollecting that the State of North Carolina was 
raising a regiment of foreigners, most of the officers of which 
were Frenchmen, and anxious to get rid of O'Neal, I men- 
tioned this regiment to him, and told him I would introduce 
him to the colonel, who was an acquaintance of mine. He 
was delighted at hearing this, and begged I would go imme- 
diately with him. It was about eleven o'clock when we 
went to the colonel's lodgings. Knocking at the door, a win- 
dow was opened by him, and he inquired what we wanted. 
I told him there was a gentleman just from France, who 
wanted to speak to him on business of great importance. 
He hurried on his clothes, and was soon down stairs, when 
I introduced O'Neal, and immediately went away, leaving 
him to explain the motives of our visit, and congratulating 
myself upon my escape, and laughing to think how Mr. Char- 
iot (the name of the colonel) would be plagued with his coun- 
tryman. O'Neal, however, was not to be done with me, for, 
after staying some hours with the colonel, he came back to 
the tavern, and, inquiring of the servant that sat up for him, 
for my room, he came to me and awakened me out of a sound 
sleep to tell me that the colonel had promised to use his inte- 
rest to get him a commission, and desired him as soon as he 
got to the tavern to speak to me to use my interest for him. 
This, I had no doubt, he told him, to be up with me for dis- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 113 

turbing him so unseasonably. He kept talking to me until 
I pretended to be asleep. The next day I saw Chariot, who 
was a very pleasant, good fellow. When he came up to me, 
" Ah ! Mr. Biddle ! where you pick up Mr. O'Neal?" I found 
he had been as tired of him as myself. As I was the only 
person in the house that could speak a word of French, 
whenever I came in O'i^eal fastened on me. Chariot soon 
after procured him a commission, and I have no doubt he 
was a good officer. My friends in ISTewbern used to say I 
wanted to get O'N^eal appointed a general officer, that he 
might make me one of his aids. 

We sailed from the Bar the 22d of September, 1778, in the 
afternoon ; a pleasant breeze and moderate weather. Just 
before midnight I directed the chief mate to call me and 
mention aloud there was a ship under our lee bow he be- 
lieved to be a cruiser. Immediately all hands were called, 
and I was much pleased to find how readily they went to 
their quarters. It convinced me they would fight well if 
brought to action. The marines were commanded by Captain 
Ward, who had most of them been before in an independent 
company belonging to the State of North Carolina. Having 
served the time for which they enlisted they entered with 
him on board the ship. With fifteen of these men Captain 
Ward boarded and took a privateer of eight guns and fifty 
men. It was in the night when she was lying at Cape Look- 
out. The commander of her, when at Beaufort, said if he 
had not been surprised in the night, a hundred of them would 
not have taken her; and that he should be glad to meet 
Ward when they were upon an equal footing. Ward took 
no notice of this at the time, but the fellow remaining in the 
country, and getting naturalized, Ward sent him a challenge, 
and as he had not courage to meet him, he chastised him 
very severely with a whip, which he bore with Christian 
patience. 

Knowing that exercise is an excellent remedy for sea-sick- 
ness, and wishing to make the young men on board learn to 
go aloft, whenever the weather was fair I had the hand 
pump taken up to the head of the main top-mast and there 



114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

lashed, and every one of them that wanted a drink of water 
was obliged to go up, bring the pump down, and after they 
had taken a drink, carry it up again. For the first five or 
six days many of them would come upon deck, look up 
wistfully at the pump, but rather than go aloft would go 
doAvn again. However, they were soon reconciled to it, and 
I believe it was of great service to them. During our pas- 
sage, one morning at daylight, we fell in with two ships that 
I took to be British Letters of Marque bound to America. 
We were not more than two miles from them, j^et we took 
no notice of each other. My object was to go safe, and I 
was determined not to be taken if I could possibly avoid it ; 
nor was it my wish to take anything. When we were off 
St. Eustatia it was calm, and the current going to the wind- 
ward we Avere drifted close to St. Kitts. There were then 
two privateers lying there, one a ship, I believe commanded 
by a Capt. Phillips, and a schooner. I made all the show we 
could with our men and wooden guns, hoisted our Jack, 
ensign and pennant, filled the tops with men, and prepared 
to engage should they come out. However, fortunately for 
us, they did not, and the breeze springing up about ten o'clock 
we soon reached St. Eustatia. The captain of the privateer 
was laughed at for not going out and attacking us. He said 
he took us to be a Continental ship of twenty guns, and ex- 
pected to get nothing but hard knocks ; that if he had been 
in a king's ship he should have acted difterently; if any one 
doubted his courage he would try them. About noon we 
anchored at St. Eustatia, and I went on board Admiral 

* ship, and told him if he could return it I would 

fire a salute. He behaved with great politeness, but informed 
me he could not return the salute. As I lay near him we 
manned the yards and gave him three cheers, which he re- 
turned. Admiral * was killed soon afterwards. 

When the British took St. Eustatia Admiral Rodney sent 
the Monarch in pursuit of the Dutch Admiral, when an 
engagement ensued and he fell. During the time we lay 

* The name of the Dutch Admiral is wanting in the MS. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 115 

here it came on to blow one night very hard. It was ex- 
pected we should have a hurricane, and I intended at da}'- 
light to go out of the Road. There was at this time a heavy 
sea rolling in. When I was below the chief mate ordered 
one of the crew in the maintop. He fell from the futtock 
shrouds overboard, and it was with great dilhculty that he 
was saved. This man's name was Samuel Rogers, a drunken 
fellow, and the only one of the crew that was so. A few 
days after he ran from the ship ; had he applied for his dis- 
charge I would have given it him, and paid his wages, for 
on a drunkard you can have no dependence. We sold our 
cargo well, and took in a valuable one. As there were a 
good many small privateers cruising off St. Eustatia, I pur- 
chased a pair of six pounders, and then thought myself a 
match for any of them. Seven or eight sail of us, bound to 
different ports in America, sailed together, and although 
several privateers were in sight they were afraid to come 
amongst us. The next day we saw a sloop to windward 
which I took to be an Anguilla* privateer, and hoisted Eng- 
lish colors in hopes she would bear down ujwn us. As soon 
as our colors were hoisted she did as I expected, and niade 
preparations to engage us. As I found she intended to get 
upon our weather quarter, I had two of the guns loaded with 
grape run aft, and all the marines lying on quarter-deck with 
a bullet and two buckshot in their muskets; and as her crew 
were entirely exposed in coming up, which they did with 
their drums beating, I expected to make great havoc among 
them ; but just as we hauled down the English colors, and 
hoisted our own, and were going to fire on them, they hoisted 
American colors, and we found she was a privateer from 
Charleston, I believe commanded by a Capt. Milligan. The 
captain came on board, and told us he was as much dis- 
appointed as we were, for he thought us to be an English 
Letter of Marque. JSTothing material happened until we 
were off Cape Lookout, when at daylight we fell in with a 
small British cruiser, which we stood for and expected to 

* Anguilla is a small island off the north coast of Cuba. 



116 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

engage, but when near she made sail from us. In carrying 
sail after her we sprang the head of our foremast. From the 
appearance of the Aveather, expecting a gale of wind we 
stood for Beaufort, and anchored there about twelve o'clock 
the 16th of JSTovember, having been just eight weeks on our 
voyage. When we were going to salute the town I directed 
Mr. Sumeral, the chief mate, to draw the wads and unshot 
the guns. When he told me it was done I gave orders to 
fire. Hesitating to fire his gun, I went up to him and asked 
him if he was afraid to fire, and intended to take the match 
from him, but upon my speaking he fired, and the gun burst 
into a hundred pieces. A large piece went through the boat, 
another through the foretop-sail. A splinter of the carriage 
scratched one side of my face, and the same piece tore the 
ensign all to pieces. Poor Sumeral had his thigh broken in 
two places, and many of the crew were slightly wounded. 
Considering the gun was loaded with grape shot, and the 
decks full of men, there being many on board from the shore, 
it was surprising more were not injured. Sumeral lingered 
a great while before he died, -and I believe if we could have 
procured a good surgeon he would have recovered. He told 
me he was really afraid to fire the gun ; he had tried to draw 
the wad but could not. Had he mentioned this to me the 
accident would not have happened. 

When I went on shore in the evening, to my very agree- 
able surprise, I found Miss Shepard. She had just conje 
down from her uncle's on a visit to her mother. We were 
engaged to be married as soon as I returned to ]N"ewbern, 
which I did not expect, when I sailed, would be before the 
beginning of Decemiber. The meeting here was entirely 
accidental ; Miss Shepard, hearing of her mother being 
unAvell, had set ofi' the morning of my arrival, and rode fifty 
miles on horseback that day. The springing of my foremast 
(which at the time I was very much concerned about, and 
which in the evening I was much pleased had happened) was 
the occasion of my being at Beaufort. As it was uncertain 
when I should be at ITewbern, I persuaded Miss Shepard to 
be married here, and, as there was no marriage settlement to 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 117 

be made, the 25t}i of ISTovember, 1778, we were married, and 
I can now (January, 1812) sa}^ with truth, what with truth 
all married men cannot say, that it was the most happy cir- 
cumstance of my life, and that she has been everything to 
me T could wish. 

Shortly after my marriage a large sloop anchored near the 
Bar. We took her to be an English cruiser, and prepared to 
attack her if she should come near the town. However, at 
night, the pilot came on shore and brought with him the 
owner, who, I found, was Mr. William Hodge, ah old school- 
mate of mine, and who was very much rejoiced to see me. 
Having been long absent from America, and anxious to get into 
any port on the continent, and Beaufort being the first port 
he made, was the reason of his putting in here. Mr. Hodge 
had been for a long time in France, where he was concerned 
in a privateer that had taken a packet and some other vessels 
belonging to the British. The English Ambassador, being 
informed that Hodge was concerned in the privateer, applied 
to the French Court to have him confined, and although they 
were then privately giving every encouragement to the Ameri- 
cans thej' basely complied with the Ambassador's request, and 
had Hodge arrested and carried to the Bastile. He told me 
he was fencing with a master who was teaching him, when 
two well dressec], men came into the room, inquired if his 
name was not Hodge, and when he informed them that it 
was, they told him he was their prisoner, and, desiring him 
to step into the carriage, they also came in and carried him 
immediately to the Bastile. He was confined there in a 
room by himself for six weeks, and probably would have 
died there but for the favorable turn in our aftairs. During 
his imprisonment he never spoke a word to any person what- 
ever. Mr. Carmichael, who lived with Dr. Franklin, fre- 
quently wrote to him, but he never received but one of his 
notes, and that he found in the plaits of one of his shirts. 
It fell out as he was putting the shirt on. He was very 
much rejoiced at getting it, as it informed him he would soon 
be released. 

Mr. Hodge left the sloop in my charge, and went to Phila- 



118 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

delphia to consult with his friends what he should do with 
her. lie soon returned and fitted her out to cruise. He 
wanted me to command her, hut as I disapproved of com- 
manding or heing concerned in a privateer, he gave the com- 
mand of her to a young man of the name of Simpson (son 
of Captain Simpson, of Philadelphia), who came with him 
from Cadiz. I never knew a man wh.ose attachment was so 
strong to his native place as Hodge's. He thought a man's 
heing horn and brought up in Pliiladelphia was a suflicient 
recommendation. This must have been his motive for giving 
the command of the sloop to Simpson, for there were several 
at that time in !N^ewbern much better qualified, who would 
gladly have taken the command of her. Simpson was a good 
3^oung man, and brave, but totally unfit for a privateersman. 
The best officer belonging to the sloop was John Harris, of 
Boston. He was a man of uncommon size and strength, very 
active and brave. Going off with him one day, there was a 
Spanish seaman behaved with insolence to Harris ; he struck 
him, — the fellow immediately took out his knife and, if one 
of the boat's crew had not caught his arm, would have 
plunged it into Harris. Harris took no further notice of the 
fellow than taking the knife, until we were all out of the 
boat but himself and the Spaniard, whom he made stay with 
with him. As soon as we were on board the vessel he took 
the Spaniard, who was a stout fellow that valued himself for 
his strength, by the collar and hove him overboard, and, not- 
withstanding all his prayers and entreaties, put his head 
under water until he was almost drowned. He several times 
brought his head above water to let him breathe, and then 
thrust him down again. He then hauled him on deck, more 
dead than alive. The fellow, after this cold bath, behaved 
extremely well. The sloop soon got her complement of men, 
and sailed on a cruise. She had a brush with a privateer 
from 'New York the day they left the Bar. They soon 
parted, and the Eclipse, as she was called, went off Charles- 
ton, where they took a brig and sent her to Beaufort. Soon 
after they were chased and had a narrow escape from a British 
frigate. jlSTothing saved her then but getting into shoal 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 119 

water. They returned without taking any other prize than 
the brig. 

I fitted out the Cornelia, and sent Captain Cook, of Phila- 
delphia, master of her to St. Eustatia. A few days after 
they left the Bar she lost her main-mast in a gale of wind. 
She was chased by a privateer near St. Eustatia. The cap- 
tain told Captain Cook, in St. Eustatia, that he knew the ship 
and was acquainted with me, and did not think it prudent to 
come alongside, and so she arrived safe in St. Eustatia. On 
her return she was taken by one of the Providence privateers. 

I moved about a month after my marriage to a small house 
belonging to an uncle of Mrs. Biddle. We went to ISTewbern 
during the winter, which we passed very agreeably. We 
were entertained at ISTewbern with great hospitality by the 
families of Jones and Singleton (where we made our homes), 
by Governor ITash, Mr. Blount, and some other respeci;able 
families there. During my stay at ITewbern I attended the 
trial of a cause for my friend Hodge, who was at Philadel- 
phia. It was about the prize brig sent in by the Eclipse. 
She was claimed by some merchants of Charleston as Amer- 
ican property. I employed the Attorney-General, Avery, 
who had all the trouble of preparing for the case. When 
the trial was coming on Mr. Avery advised me to speak to 
Mr. I^ash (afterwards Governor), which I did. lie was an 
eminent lawyer, but very negligent, and did not come into 
court until after the jury were sworn, and did not speak half 
an hour. AVhen the jury went out, I called at my lodgings 
and placed five hundred dollars, Continental money (equal 
then to about one hundred and fifty dollars specie), in a paper 
to hand to Mr. Nash. We dined together at Mr. Savage's. 
After dinner, intending to set oft" for Beaufort, I called him 
out, and presented him the money. Inquiring how much it 
waS; I told him five hundred dollars, the same as given to 
Mr. Avery, and with which that gentleman was perfectly sat- 
isfied. He returned the money, telling me he would rather 
compliment me with his services than take such a fee. I 
took the money, made a low bow, thanked him for his polite- 
ness, and went away. He was a good deal mortified after- 



120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

wards when he found I had taken him at his word, and gave 
me several hints about the business, but I took no notice of 
them, and never gave him a farthing. I would have given 
him something, but he shamefully neglected the business. 

After the condemnation of Clifford and Wells's ship, they 
applied to Council for the half by law coming to the Com- 
monwealth. At the trial it was clearly proved that the 
owners were in no way whatever concerned in the smuggling, 
yet the jury, as the law stood, were obliged to condemn the 
ship. Council had power to remit fines and grant pardons, 
but could do nothing in case of forfeiture, a fine being a com- 
mutation for a corporal punishment, a forfeiture a resumption 
of property lost to the owner hy breaches of the municipal 
law of society, which has in consequence of such breaches 
been passed from the owner to the community. 

I had some time before this a difference with E . He 

M'^anted me much to command his privateer Bellona. To in- 
duce me, he said he would go with me, and near where he 
formerly lived in Ireland he could load the brig in the night 
with linen from the bleaching yards. I told him no man 
but a thief would think of making mone}'^ by such base 
means. 

In the spring Mr. Stanley, of N^ewbern, fitted out a ship 
and several small vessels, of all which he offered me the con- 
signment if I would take command of the ship, but as I 
found Mrs. Biddle was very much averse to it, and having 
no great inclination myself, I was easily persuaded to stay at 
home. I was afterwards sorry I had not gone, for they made 
a short voyage, sold their cargoes well, and arrived home to 
a great market. 

One morning in April I was reading in the parlor, when a 
person looking in at the window, exclaimed, " By Gr-d, that is 
Biddle !" Looking up, I perceived it was my old friend, J. 
Allen. It gave me great pleasure to have this worthy man 
under my own roof. He had put in to get a supply of pro- 
visions, and inquiring who lived in the place, he was greatly 
surprised when he was informed I was one of the inhabi- 
tants. He stayed with me several days, and then went to 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 121 

Wilmington. Poor fellow ! he was much altered ; he had 
lost a favorite child, which had almost deprived him of his 
senses. Although it was upwards of a year before the time 
he was with me, he could not mention it without being 
greatly affected. I did not then, but since have known, 
what he must have suffered. 

In July Mr. Hodge concluded to send the Eclipse to the 
"West Indies on freight. Some of my friends soon loaded 
her with tobacco for St. Thomas, and I agreed to join her. 
When we were nearly fitted a brig appeared off the Bar, 
which was said by some person on shore, that pretended to 
know her, to be a Letter of Marque belonging to N"ew York, 
that had been before off the port. In expectation of bringing 
her in or driving her off the coast, I intended to go out in 
the Eclipse, and was waiting the tide to run at the Bar, to go 
over it, when Mr. Hodge returned from l!^ewbern. He .im- 
mediately sent off to request that I would not go out ; if I 
did, and any accident happened, he should look to me for 
damages. This cooled me, and I returned to the old anchor- 
ing ground. We were afterwards informed she was one of 
the stoutest privateers belonging to New York, who, in all 
probability, would have carried us there. 

AVhen we were nearly read}^ to sail a small privateer was 
brought into Newbern by the privateer Bellona, belonging to 
that port. The crew were confined in gaol. Going to New- 
bern soon after, and wanting seamen, I went to gaol to see if 
any of them would enter on board the Eclipse. Thirty-seven, 
chiefly Irishmen, agreed to go with me. When I was taking 
them to the wharf on their way to Beaufort, Mr. John Owens, 
an honest Welshman, then a merchantofNewbern, who came 
with me from St. Eustatia, stopped me and informed me that 
one of the men going with me, of the name of Henderson, 
had agreed to go in a small sloop of his, and begged I would 
let him go with him. I told him Henderson had been a 
petty officer on board the privateer, understood navigation, 
appeared to be a fellow fit for anything, and probably would 
take the vessel from him, while with me he could do no 
mischief if inclined to do it. He said he was not the least 



122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

afraid of that, upon which I let him go. It was my opinion 
that Owens had a passport or some protection from the British, 
for he was remarkably timid, and if he had not a protection 
would hardly have risked taking such a man as Henderson, 
The sloop was commanded by Capt. Gourling, now of Phila- 
delphia. The day they went over the Bar, when about six 
leagues from the land, Henderson went aft to Owens and 
Capt. Gourling, who were on the quarter-deck, and told them 
the sloop was his, and they might go into the boat. He was 
followed by seven of the crew who had agreed to join him. 
They attempted to expostulate with Henderson, but he told 
them that it was in vain to say anything, and if they did not 
get immediately into the boat he would pitch them in, 
Owens and Gourling were obliged to go in, and they had 
like to have perished before they reached the shore. Just as 
they were pulling off Henderson called to them and told them 
he believed Capt, Biddle to be a clever fellow, that he there- 
fore wished them to inform me that the men I took out of 
gaol had taken an oath that they would kill me as soon as 
the sloop was over the Bar, for that they did not expect they 
could get the sloop without putting me to death. It was 
expected Henderson would have gone into isTew York with 
the sloop, and Owens got a flag to go there, but she was not 
in ISTew York. It was afterwards reported they went to 
Ireland ; however, they never could hear any certain accounts 
of them. As soon as Owens reached ISTewbern he sent an 
express to inform me of the intention of my gaol birds. As 
I knew well that seamen generall}^, as well as other people, 
were they once well treated soon change any bad intentions 
they may have had, and as I had marines, who were most of 
them young men of respectable families, born about Beaufort, 
very stout, active, and resolute fellows who had been with 
me in the Cornelia, and would risk their lives for me, and 
knowing what discipline would do, I felt not the least uneasi- 
ness. If Owens had not sent to me, the manner in which I 
obtained these men would have made me cautious of them. 
The day before we sailed I had them all called aft, told tliem 
if they behaved well and did their duty cheerfully, they 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 123 

should be well treated and have everything that had been 
])romised them, but if I found the least murmuring, or in- 
tention of making any disturbance on board the sloop they 
should be punished in the severest manner; and at the same 
time I ordered the marines that if any man when called to 
quarters was the least backwards, or did not do his duty in 
action, instantly to shoot him. As they knew this would be 
done it had a wonderful effect. Then ordering a drink of 
grog, they were dismissed ; they gave three cheers, and swore 
they would do their duty faithfully. I believe it very seldom 
happens that there is a mutiny in a ship, or any disturbance, 
but the fault is with the officers. If the crew are not ill- 
treated, or, what is equally bad, too much indulged, are given 
what they are entitled to, and made to do their duty, it will 
seldom happen that a crew behave ill. From no men was 
less to be expected than from those I had taken from gaol, 
yet no men behaved better. "When called, they were the 
first at their quarters; and if we had been brouglit to action 
I am convinced they would have fought well. From their 
behavior I believe they knew I was informed of what they 
had intended. 

We sailed from Beaufort the 10th of August, 1779. The 
sloop drawing a great deal of water we struck hard upon 
the Bar, and I expected, as she was very weak in her bottom, 
she would have been stove. However, we got off without 
receiving any injury. We had the prize brig and some small 
vessels under our convoy, j^ear St. Thomas we fell in, at 
difterent times, with two or three small privateers, but none 
sufficiently strong to engage us. We arrived at St. Thomas 
without any accident. I sold my cargo to the Royal Danish 
Company, which at that time was just established. When I 
came to discharge it, to my great mortification, I found that 
a good deal of the tobacco was very much damaged, which could 
not have happened on board the sloop, for she did not leak. 
The company sent me word that as the tobacco was not mer- 
cliantable they must return it. I waited on, and told them 
I was very sorry to find the tobacco not so good as it should 
be, but that it would be very bad policy in them, as I was 



124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the first American from whom they had purchased, to dispute 
about the cargo, that the Americans would then be afraid to 
deal with them, whereas if they behaved generously and 
friendly it would induce them always to give the company a 
preference. After some consultation they agreed to take it. 
I never went on the wharf when they were examining the 
cargo, but it made me ashamed to think what trash I had 
brought, and if the company had not purchased, it would not 
have been sold. They behaved extremely well. 

While lying here Mr. Bull, an inhabitant of Tortola, a 
native of JSTew England, who appeared warmly attached 
to his country, came down to see if any of his countrymen 
would engage to go upon an expedition against Tortola. He 
complained of being ill-treated there because he was an 
American and wished well to their cause. I inquired if he 
had never given any occasion for being ill-treated. He de- 
clared he had not, but that he did say there and everywhere 
that he wished well to the American cause. He reminded me 
of a German servant woman of my mother's, who complained 
of being beaten by her husband. My mother, knowing her 
violent temper, said to her, "And, well, Katy, did you say 
nothing to provoke your husband ?" "No, Mistress, indeed I 
did not. The worst words I said to him were that he was a 
good-for-nothing scoundrel." Mr. Bull was of a warm temper, 
and probably his ill-treatment was brought on him by his im- 
prudence. Mine being the strongest American vessel in the 
port. Bull was very desirous of my going. He said there 
was hardly any person in the fort, that we could land a few 
men and get possession of it, and then should command the 
shipping. When I considered that Tortola was a place of ren- 
dezvous for privateers, and as I believed it could be very easily 
taken, I had a great inclination to go, and for two or three 
nights could not sleep for thinking of it. My officers were 
all eager to go. However, when I reflected it would be 
exceeding my instructions, and if any accident happened it 
would be a great injury to my friend Hodge; and that set- 
ting such a crew as I should be obliged to take ashore, would 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 125 

probably occasion the niin and perhaps murder of some inno- 
cent people, I determined not to go. 

The day before I sailed two of my gaol birds getting 
drunk, deserted, and enlisted in the garrison. As we had 
rather too few for our guns before, and there was a privateer 
oil' the west end of the island said to be waiting for us, I 
waited on the Governor, who had treated me with great polite- 
ness upon a former occasion, to endeavor to get the men back ; 
but when he knew my errand he told me they should not be 
delivered up, that they were not my countrymen, and they 
had a right to enlist. It was in vain to argue with him. I 
therefore shipped two others. When cleared out and ready 
for seal dropped down abreast of the fort and hoisted Amer- 
ican colors. This was what they had refused to allow us, 
and we were obliged to hoist a white flag. They soon hailed 
me from the fort, "Haul down them colors." Upon, my 
refusing they threatened to sink me ; but I knew their guns 
were out of powder, and therefore disregarded all they said, 
keeping my colors up and drum a-beating until the afternoon, 
when we weighed and stood out of the harbor. When 
almost clear of it a black Cura(,ao man, whom I had shipped 
in the room of one of the men who had deserted, jumped 
overboard and swam on shore. I made some of the marines 
iire ahead of him to frighten him, but he dived, and seemed 
to regard their firing as little as I did the threats of the 
officers in the fort. Oft' the west end of the island we dis- 
covered the privateer said to be waiting for us. She w^as 
close in with the land, and did not show any inclination to 
come out, with which I was full as well pleased as I should 
have been to see her bear down upon us. 

Nothing material happened until we got on the coast, when, 
on the 17th of September, we had a violent gale of wind, or 
rather hurricane, in which we all expected the sloop would 
have foundered. She worked very much, and we could 
hardly keep her free. Two days after this, we made the land 
a few miles to the southwest of Beaufort. In the afternoon we 
could plainly see the town. As the wind was ahead and we 
could not get in that night with the sloop, I was resolved 



126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF \ 

i 

to go ashore in the boat. ^Notwithstanding Captain Tucker 
and some other passengers begged me not to attempt it, that 
I ran a great risk of being lost with all that were with me, 
finding several of the crew, who lived in Beaufort, as anxious 
to go as myself, I picked out five that could swim and row 
well, and put off in a wlialeboat. The passengers took leave 
of me as if they never expected to see me again. As we 
drew near the shore, we found there was a dreadful surf. 
We stood some distance to the southward, to try to find a 
better place to land, but it was 'tremendous everywhere. 
And now I believe every man in the boat secretly wished 
himself on board the sloop ; for my own part, I most fervently 
did, but we were so far to leeward, that had we attempted 
to reach the vessel, we could not have done it before night, 
and it was mortifying to think of it. Finding it in vain to 
stand further to leeward, and night approaching, with dark, 
cloudy weather, I pretended to see a smooth place abreast of 
us, and pushed in for the beach. Expecting we should have 
to swim, when near, I ordered them to lie on their oars, and 
pull oft' their jackets, and did the same myself. Just as I 
had my jacket oft\ and was taking hold of the oar to steer her, 
a sea broke with great violence on board, and filled the boat. 
It was some time before I could recollect myself, when look- 
ing around, I could see the people hanging on the boat. I in- 
tended at first to swim to them, but seeing a heavy sea coming, 
I put before it, and was so long under that I never expected 
to rise. It threw me on the beach, but so much spent that 
it was with great dilficulty I could scramble out of reach of 
the sea. The boat's crew staid by her until she reached the 
shore, one of them so far gone, that it was with much dilfi- 
culty we could get him out of the surf. We had now seven 
miles to walk before we came to a house, and were obliged to 
help the young man who was so much exhausted. When 
we reached the house they had nothing to cross the sound in 
but an old canoe. It is from here, I believe, near eight miles 
to Beaufort. Taking three of the stoutest men with me we 
embarked, and about two o'clock in the morning reached 
Beaufort, almost dead with hunger and fatigue. We lost 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 127 

our ])oat, oars, and jackets. At daylight I was awakened by 
the sloop firing a salute. She had got up with the Bar in the 
night, and the tide answering, she came in as soon as it was 
broad daylight. 

The day I sailed for St. Thomas, Mr. Hodge set off" for 
Philadelphia, and did not return for some time after my ar- 
rival. He brought me the first account I had of the loss of 
my bi'other Edward. Mr. James Read, then a member of 
the Supreme Executive Council, and who knew him from 
his infancy, gave a character of him in Dunlap's paper of the 
9th of September, 1779, which he justly merited. He says : 

" On Thursday last, after a very lingering illness, died at 
Baltimore, in the forty-first year of his age, that great lawyer, 
the Honorable Edward Biddle, Esqr., of Reading in this 
State. In early life as a captain in our Provincial forces, his 
military virtues so highly distinguished him that Congress 
designed him to high rank in the American army, which, 
however, his sickness prevented. His practice at the bar for 
years having made his great abilities and integrity known, 
the county of Berks unanimously elected him one of their 
representatives in Assembly, who soon made him their 
Speaker and a Delegate in Congress. And the conduct of 
this patriot did honor to their choice. As in public char- 
acter very few were equal to him in talents, or in noble ex- 
ertions of them, so in private life, the son, the husband, the 
father, brother, friend, neighbor, and master, had in him a 
j:)attern not to be excelled. Love to his country, benevolence, 
and every manly virtue, rendered him an object of esteem and 
admiration to all that knew him." 

The 6th of October, 1779, Mrs. Biddle was delivered of a 
son, whom I called after my brother Nicholas.* 

At this time, being every day liable to an attack, T per- 
suaded the people of the town and neighborhood to build a 
small fort. We all worked at it, and soon made a tolerably 
good one. There were four six pounders belonging to the 
United States which we mounted in it. Mr. Ellis, the Con- 

* This child died in infancy. 



128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

tinental agent, when he heard these guns were mounted, sent 
for them ; but as I knew they were wanted much more at 
Beaufort than at ISTewbern, I refused to let them go until we 
had orders from the Board of War.* Ellis threatened to sue 
me, but upon my writing to him he thought better of it. 

Mr. Hodge having agreed to send the sloop as a flag of 
truce to ISTew Providence, a great many prisoners were sent 
from ISTewbern to go in her. These people, with the English 
and Irish seamen belonging to our vessels, were frequently 
making disturbances, and we had one inhabitant of the place 
as bad as any of them. This man, under pretence of his 
being afraid of an attack, had a pair of four pounders mounted 
in his piazza, and frequently in the night, when drunk, would 
fire them oflt'to the great disturbance of the peaceable people of 
the town. I spoke to Col. Bell, and told him, as he commanded 
the militia, he should put a stop to Capt. Gibbons's firing; 
that if I had the command of the militia, the town should 
be kept in better order. Bell was a very worthy man, but 
of too easy a temper to command such a man as Gibbons. 
He said he did not know what to do with him, he had often 
talked with him, and he had promised to behave better; but 
when drunk, there was no doing anything with him, he was 
a perfect madman. He would, however, try again what could 
be done. The method he took to try again " what could be 
done," was to get me appointed captain of the town company 
of militia. Although this was an appointment by no means 
agreeable to me, knowing myself not qualified for it, yet 
after what had passed between Col. Bell and myself, I was 
determined not to shrink from it, but to do everything in my 

* The Secretary of the Board of War, Richard Peters, Esq. , is an old friend 
of mine, and remarkable for his wit. The Board wanted to remove Robert 
Morris, Esq., from the office of Financier, and Col. Grayson, one of the Board, 
re(;[uested Peters to join them. After reading the memorial, he told Gray- 
son if they would strike out one word, he would sign the paper. They 
were much pleased, and declared they would alter, not only any word, but 
any paragraph he objected to. "Well," says Peters, "in this memorial 
you very often have, ' this Board complains,' strike out the word ' board,' and 
put in the word ' shingle,' and I will sign it directly." 



CHAKLES BIDDLE. 129 

power to prevent any further disturbance in the town. I 
therefore accepted the commission, and having mustered the 
company, most of whom were very orderly men, who were 
pleased with my being their captain, and who I believe re- 
commended the matter to Bell, I told them that in the ex- 
posed situation we were in, it Avas necessary for preservation 
that we should live in harmony with each other, that every- 
thing in my power should be done to promote the peace of 
the town, and if any disturbance was made, the person or 
persons who made it should be punished as far as I could 
punish them, whoever he or they were. After enlarging on 
our situation, I gave them a drink and dismissed them. 
Soon after I called upon Gibbons, and told him he would 
oblige me by taking the guns out of his piazza. After some 
persuasion he agreed to it, but Avith a verj" ill grace, and 
when I left him did not appear satisfied. In the evening, 
going by his door, he called me in. Believing the man 
capable of attempting anything, I was upon my guard, and 
as at that time we were under some apprehension of an attack 
by the prisoners, I never went anywhere without pocket 
pistols. When entering the house, I drew one so far out as 
to let him see it. There was a pair of large pistols on the 
table, which convinced me he had some bad design, and I was 
determined if he took up one of them to try I'or the first 
fire. His wife (who was a Miss Robinson, a very good young 
woman, who was frequently in the night obliged to run out 
of the house, when she always came to my house for pro- 
tection, which perhaps was one cause of his dislike for me) 
was sitting by the fire. lie ordered her in a surly tone to 
leave the room. Having no confidence in the man, I then 
expected we should try our skill, and I wished some person 
present to see fair play. He was about half drunk, and per- 
ceiving that I watched him narrowly, he appeared sullen and 
confused. After some time he roused himself, and asked me 
to drink some gin, declaring at the same time he had a 
regard for me, and as we were the only masters of vessels in 
the town, we should live in friendship with one another; that 
he knew I thought myself much above him, but he would 



130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

sooner die than be treated with contempt by any person 
whatever. I told him it would give me pleasure to be on 
good terms with him, that it depended entirely on himself 
whether we were, or were not ; that he had no reason to sup- 
pose I considered myself above him, or treated him with 
contempt. After some further conversation we parted, to all 
appearance on better terms than we ever had been. The 
next day there was a disturbance on board one of the vessels 
in the harbor. The captain fearing, as he afterwards said, 
he should be murdered, had secured himself in the cabin, 
from whence he hailed a coaster I}' ing near him, and begged 
the master to inform the people on shore of his situation. 
Upon hearing of it, I took some of the company and went off. 
When we M^ere near, one of the crew hailed us and swore we 
should not come on board. I ordered the boat to row along- 
side, and told the fellow that hailed, if they made any resistance 
they should have no quarter. When I went on board the crew 
were mostly drunk. The one who appeared the ringleader, 
coming up behind me would have struck me with a hand- 
spike, and probably killed me, but for a stout young man 
who caught hold of him and took the handsi:)ike from him, 
declaring at the same time in broad Scotch, that no man on 
board should hurt Capt. Biddle. Hearing us upon deck, the 
captain came out of the cabin, when the crew and captain 
began to accuse each other of behaving ill. Upon inquiring 
of the young Scotchman, whose name was Smith, I found the 
captain had not behaved well, and the crew worse. After 
going into the cabin, and giving my advice and opinion to the 
captain, speaking to the crew, and taking the fellow who 
attempted to strike me, and who the captain said was the 
occasion of all the disturbance, I went ashore. 

Returning home one very dark night from a neighbor's 
with Mrs. Biddle, we met several of the prisoners armed 
with clubs. Having a servant with a lantern, I knew one 
we met to have been a lieutenant of a privateer, of the name 
of Rankin. Calling to him by name, I told him it was time 
he was in his hammock. In an insolent manner he answered, 
" Yes it is, and time you were at home." When we got into 



CHAELES BIDDLE. 131 

the house I found one of my company. He told me he 
believed the prisoners intended to do some mischief. I sent 
him with orders to bring as many of the company as he 
could. We soon mustered about a dozen well armed. We 
then sallied out, and one of the first men we met was Rankin, 
who, with a few others, was secured and put in gaol. The 
rest dispersed. Two days afterwards, in the evening, one of 
the inhabitants came running into my house much alarmed, 
and told me a large mob of sailors were collected on the shore 
and were marching up towards my house. I directed him 
to go up in the town (mine being the first house as you entered 
from the eastward) and desire all the men he met to get their 
arms and come to me. As soon as the sailors came ^bout 
my house 1 observed at the head of them one Knox, one of 
the fellows I had taken out of the Kewbern gaol to go to 
St. Thomas's. Going up to him with a pair of pistols in my 
hands, I inquired what they wanted. *He told me they did 
not intend » to injure any person, much less me, but they 
wanted Lieutenant Rankin, and the others who were put in 
gaol with him. While I was in the midst of them telling 
Knox, who was a good-tempered fellow, the consequences 
of what he was about, as he was considered as an American, 
Gibbons fired twice. I believe his intention was to have hit 
me ; however he did no injury. Many of the town company 
collecting, and seeing me among the seamen, came up and 
Gibbons with them. The sailors then threw down their 
clubs and surrendered. As many of them were drunk we con- 
cluded it would be best to put them all in gaol for the night 
and in the morning let them all out but the ringleaders. 
Among the sailors I was much surprised to find Smith. 
Inquiring how he came amongst them, he declared he only 
came with them to try to prevent their doing any mischief, 
and he begged I would not let him be sent to gaol with such 
a set of wretches. Having a particular regard for the lad 
from his behavior before, and believing what he said true, I 
sent one of the company with him to my house, and desired 
him to stay there until my return. After seeing the sailors 
in gaol, and a guard placed over them, I returned home in 



132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

company with Gibbons, who declared he thought the sailors 
had made me their prisoner or he should not have fired. 
But nothing he could now say could do away with the suspi- 
cion I entertained of him. When at home I sent for Smith 
and found, on conversing with him, he was a sensible, intelli- 
gent young man. Inquiring how he came to know me, for 
he had called me by name the first time I recollected seeing 
him, he told me he had seen me on shore, and from the like- 
ness to my brother IS'icholas inquired who I was. He said 
the name of Captain Biddle was very dear to him, he never 
heard it without bringing to remembrance my brother, who 
had taken him in a ship from Scotland with troops when he 
commanded the Andrea Doria ; that my brother took him 
and another lad, Daniel McCoy, as his cabin boys and treated 
them with the greatest kindness ; that Daniel was a fifer, and 
not wishing to go to sea, my brother had him bound, with his 
consent, to a house carpenter ; that he left the Andrea Doria 
and went in a merchant vessel and had continued«in one ever 
since until he heard of the loss of the Randolph. He had 
always been wishing he had continued with my brother, 
whom he should ever remember as being his best friend. 
What he mentioned respecting Daniel I knew to be true, and 
I had no reason to doubt anything he told me. His narra- 
tive affected me very much and increased my desire to serve 
him. Although greatly fatigued when I lay down, which 
was about ten o'clock, the thought of what Smith had men- 
tioned of my brother- — that brother who was so dear to my 
heart — kept me from sleeping. About eleven o'clock, hear- 
ing some person go out of the back part of the house, I 
called to know who it was. Smith answered me ; he told 
me he had left some things in the boat, and, as all was now 
quiet, he would go and get them, for he was afraid in the 
morning they would be stolen. I desired him to make haste 
back, and half an hour after he was gone, hearing a violent 
noise at the front door, I inquired who was there and what 
was the matter. A man answered he was " Fuller" (this 
was one of the company that knew Smith), that he came to 
inibrm me Gibbons had shot Smith, who begged to see me. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 133 

I went immediately to the gaol, without waiting to put oti 
my clothes, and found it was true. I had him taken from 
the gaol to the nearest house, and sent for an English surgeon 
who happened to he at Beaufort, It appeared the hall had 
gone in at his breast and lodged in his back. It was cut 
out, and the surgeon gave me some hope of his recovery. 
Poor Smith did not think there was any. Upon inquiring 
how he came to be in gaol, he told me that returning from 
the boat to my house he unfortunately met Gibbons, who was 
going on guard at the gaol. Gibbons inquired where he was 
going. He told him to my house. Gibbons said he lied, and 
should go to gaol. He requested Gibbons to go with him 
to my house, which was not a hundred yards away, and he 
would be convinced that Avhat he told him was true. Gib- 
bons swore he would not disturb me at such an hour, and, 
being armed, made the poor fellow go with him. \yhen 
Smith was in gaol he told Gibbons that it was very hard a 
quiet, peaceable man should be put in gaol by him who was 
continually disturbing the town. Gibbons swore if he 
repeated what he said he would shoot him, and upon Smith 
saying what he had said of him was true the cruel ruffian 
shot him. Business obliging me to go the next day to New- 
bern, before my departure I called en Smith, who appeared 
better. I gave directions that he should want for nothing 
during my absence. He told me he did not expect ever to 
get up, and that he considered Gibbons as his murderer. 
When I looked at the young man, and considered the manner 
in which he had been brought into a situation that if he 
lived he could hardly expect to be a hearty man, I could not 
help execrating G ibbons. He heard of what I said of him from 
a relation of his wife who was present, and, just as I was 
setting off sent a note informing me he was unwell or he 
would have called on me, and begged to see me ; that he 
could convince me that he was not only justifiable but right 
in what he had done. I sent him word that only one message 
from him would induce me to see him ; nothing he could 
possibly say would alter my opinion ; that his conjiuct was 
unmanly and brutal ; that upon my return from Newbern he 



134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

or myself must leave Beaufort. After being two days in 
N^ewbern I bad an account of tbe deatb of poor Smith, who 
went off with great composure. Upon my return to Beaufort 
I found Mr. Parrot, father to Gibbons's wife, had managed 
to get himself and some of the crew of Gibbons's vessel and 
a few poor people, who I have no doubt he bribed, to be a 
jury for the coroner, and had a verdict returned of accidental 
death. Being determined not to let the matter pass in this 
manner I had the body taken up, and respectable people 
put on the jury, who brought in their verdict, wilful murder. 
Gibbons, hearing this, and that I was applying for a warrant 
to apprehend him, went off and did not return to Beaufort. 
This murder broke up his family and ended in his ruin. 

At this time many of the young men who had been to sea 
with me, with their relations and friends, called upon me to 
know if I would serve in the Assembly. They wanted to 
leave out Col. Thompson; who had long been their represen- 
tative, as he was thought by them not to be so much attached 
to the Revolution as he should be. I told them that as it 
was not my intention to go to sea soon, if they elected me, I 
would serve. A meeting was called for the purpose, and my 
friends having proposed me, they unanimously agreed to run 
me, and I was elected b}' a very large majority. Mrs. Biddle 
and myself had a very pressing invitation from ]\f rs. and Mr. 
Jones, of JSTewbern, to stay with them during the sitting of 
the Assembly. Mr. Jones was a native of Pennsylvania, but 
had been settled for some time in Ifewbern, as a merchant. 
Mrs. Jones was born in Carolina ; her maiden name was 
Blackledge, and a more amiable, worthy woman never lived. 
We were received by them, and treated during our stay with 
the utmost kindness and hospitality. The evening we got 
there, Mr. Jones had a number of his friends to sup with 

him, among others, Mr. , the Speaker of the House of 

Assembly. When Mr. Jones introduced me to him as his 
friend, who had come to attend the sessions, he asked me 
what county I was from. This was what I could not tell 
him, and was obliged to apply to Jones to know. This, as 
may be supposed, caused a good deal of laughing, not only in 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 135 

the company, but all over the town and with the members 
of the House, for the Speaker took care to tell the story 
wherever he went. Living in the town of Beaufort, I 
thought it was the County of Beaufort that I represented, 
but the county in which Beaufort is the county town is 
called Cartaret. 

Shortly after the sessions began, there was a report of a 
British privateer being within the Bar, and doing a good 
deal of mischief. I was dining with Governor l^a&h (my 
lawyer in the case of the prize) when it was first mentioned. 
I told him if the report was confirmed, I would fit out one of 
the vessels at the wharf and go down, and endeavor to bring 
her up. There was at the table a large company, a good 
many of whom declared they would go with me. Early the 
next day we had a confirmation of the report. I immediately 
waited on the Governor and had his directions to fit put a 
sloop and a schooner. As they did not want much, and we 
had a good many hands, by four o'clock in the afternoon they 
were both ready to sail. I then sent a note to each of the 
gentlemen who had promised to go with me, but they all, ex- 
cept Mr. Spaight (afterwards Governor of iJ^Torth Carolina) and 
Mr. Blackledge, made excuses. Son^e were sick, others had ^ 
jDarticular business ; one of them, who had always behaved 
like a brute to his wife, sent me word she would not consent 
to his going. He was the only one I sent a second time to, 
and that was to inform him that I would call up and endeavor 
to persuade his wife to let him go. Fearing that I would, and 
knowing his wife would readily consent to his going any- 
where, so that she was rid of him, he rode out of town. As 
there were a good many vessels in port, I went round to them 
and soon procured as many volunteers as I wanted. In the 
evening we went down the river. Going down at night, I 
was telling an honest Irish friend, Mr. Michael Falvey, who 
went with me, about the promises made at the Governor's 
table, and mentioning the persons who had declined going 
after giving their word that they would. From his long 
residence in ISTewbern he knew them all, particularly the one 
who had sent word his wife would not let him go, which he" 



136 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

laughed very mucli at, declaring he knew he had several 
times beat her, and that she detested the sight of him. 
"Faith," says he, "I wish you had told me all this before we 
set off. The devil a bit of Falvey would have come. What 
the devil business have you or me upon such an expedition 
when these people decline. We have nothing to lose by the 
privateer, let her do what she will. In my opinion we had 
better go back." I told him, probably we had better not 
have embarked, but as we had, we must do what we could 
to clear the coast of this robber, who otherwise would plun- 
der, and perhaps murder some of the innocent people on the 
coast. He was not altogether reconciled, but he knew he 
could not get back. HoAvever, as he was a cheerful, good 
tempered fellow, he soon was satisfied, or at least appeared 
so. I have generally found the Irish generous, friendly, open, 
candid, and sincere ; warm in their attachments, and active 
in support of their friends. You will seldom find one that 
is a coward, or a miser, but most of them make bad husbands ; 
they are too fond of rambling, negligent of their affairs, and 
their hospitality frequently occasions their drinking when 
they are not dry. However, I have known many who were 
the best of husbands, of fathers, and friends. 

The day after we left the wharf, early in the morning I 
had all hands mustered to quarters and exercised them, when 
to my great surprise I found among the crew that belonged 
to the vessel before my taking the command of her, my old 
acquaintance, Henry White, the identical Henry White who 
ran aw^ay from me in Portugal, and whom I afterwards caught 
attempting to commit a robbery and murder in the Delaware. 
Going up to him I inquired where he had been since his 
adventure with the shallop-man. He had a patch on one 
side of his face, and I believe expected I should not have re- 
collected him, but so strong an impression had his former 
behavior made on me, that I should have known him in any 
disguise. He requested to speak to me by myself. When 
alone, he said he must acknowledge he had been a very bad 
fellow, that too much indulgence from the most affectionate 
of parents had been the cause of his behaving so ill, that he 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 137 

had often wished he had followed the advice I gave him when 
he went with me to Portugal ; he had suffered severely for his 
misconduct, which he begged me not to mention, declaring I 
should never hear of his acting improperly again, that no 
man in the vessel would do more to serve me than he would. 
Although I had not much confidence in what he said, but as 
mentioning his tricks would injure him, and perhaps drive 
him to the commission of some crime, I told him it depended 
altogether upon himself; if he behaved well, nothing would 
be said by me against him, but he must be on his guard, for 
if I discovered his doing or attempting anything wrong, he 
should be punished with the utmost severity. I inquired 
about him of the captain he had been last with, who was 
then on board. He told me he had been with him for six 
months, and behaved very well. He was very thankful for 
my promise, and declared for the future he would do his duty 
and behave to my satisfaction. In the afternoon we spoke a 
pilot going up. He told us the privateer was a small sloop, 
had but six guns and twenty-five men, that she was com- 
manded by a Capt. Slough or Slow, an old privateer's man, 
and belonged to New York ; that Slough was a very daring 
refugee. As our sloop sailed heavy I was determined to send 
her back, and only take the same number of hands in the 
schooner that tlje privateer had. Taking no more than 
twenty-five was very wrong, but it was the wish of Spaight, 
Blackledge, and some others, and I was determined to indulge 
them. I picked my men, they were all young, stout, active, 
and resolute. ITotwithstanding all his promises White was 
not numbered among the picked men. Falvey being anxious 
to be at I^ewbern I let him return in the sloop, although it 
was with reluctance I parted with him. As to White, in 
case of coming to action, I should have been more apprehensive 
of him than of an enemy. 

After sending back the sloop, we proceeded to the Bar, 
and cruised near it for several days without gaining any in- 
telligence respecting the privateer. We, however, at last 
discovered a vessel coming out of Neuse Plarbor, that answered 
the description we had of her. As our vessel was a coaster 



138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

I intended, if possible, to deceive them, therefore putting 
some hmihcr on our guns, of wliich we had but two, and 
sending all hands below but one man and a boy, we stood on 
as if bound into the harbor expecting she would run alongside 
without being prepared. My crew sat about the hatchway, 
each well prepared for boarding. When we were within half 
a mile of her, a squall came on and lasted a considerable time. 
When it cleared away we could see nothing of the privateer.- 
We stood into l^euse Harbor, where we lay that night. A 
day or two afterwards we went to the Bar, where we under- 
stood that Slough being informed that some vessels were 
fitted out ag-ainst him, had u^one over the Bar. We then 
returned to N^ewbern, having been absent about two weeks, 
during which time we had an agreeable cruise, exceptitig one 
day that it blew hard and we had nearly been lost. We received 
the thanks of the Governor, which was certainly a sufficient 
reward. 

A short time before we left Beaufort to come up to New- 
bern, Mr. Joseph Biddle, son of my eldest brother, James, 
came to my house. He was a lad his father had sent with 
me in the Charming Nancy, intending him for the sea. He 
had gone from Philadelphia in a sloop for Hispaniola, and 
was taken. On his return, near Cape Ilatteras, they put five 
hands on board, leaving none belonging to the sloop but 
himself and a boy, and, in fact, he himself was only a boy. 
They had a gale of wind the day after they were taken, which 
drove them in sight of land, and but for the wind suddenly 
shifting to the northwest they would have been wrecked. 
Here they beat for several days, when one very cold morning, 
watching an opportunity when the prize crew were all below 
but a lad that was at the helm, they secured them down, 
took possession of the sloop, and bore away for Ocracock, 
intending to go in there, but at 1 P. M. they fell in with a 
cruiser. Finding they had no way of escaping but by run- 
ning on shore they stood in for the land, and a little to the 
northward of Ocracock, about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
ran her on shore. The first thing they did was to let out the 
prisoners, the next the young captain did, was to get his 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 139 

chest, in which he had concealed a sum of mone}^ on shore. 
In this he was assisted by the inhabitants who had come 
down to the beach when they saw the sloop chased on shore. 
The privateer stood very near the land, intending probably 
to board the sloop. She fired a number of shot, one of which 
went through my nephew's chest as he and another person 
were carryins; it up the beach. This was all the mischief 
their firing did. In the night it came on to blow hard, and 
in the morning the sea ran so high that they could not board 
the sloop, and before night she went to pieces. Being loaded 
with sugar they saved none of her cargo. What little of the 
stores and rigging that were saved my nephew sold to the peo- 
ple that assisted him, and who had behaved exceedingly well, 
lie got to Kewbern, and having remitted to his owners the pro- 
ceeds of what he had saved, came to me at Beaufort. I was 
very glad to have it in my power to do anything for thc'son 
of such a brother, particularly for him who had sailed with 
me, and whom I knew to be a very good youth. To get him 
the command I took a concern in a fine schooner that had 
made a voyage in company with me when I went to St. 
Thomas in the Eclipse. Upon my going up to ^N^ewbern to 
take my seat in the Legislature, I left him to fit her out. 
Some of those who had been in her before, telling him the 
foremast was toa small, he had a new one made. This was 
put in green from the wood, and was much too large. The 
size I did not know until she sailed, or she should not have 
gone out with it. I went to Beaufort when she was near 
ready, and was there when she sailed, bound to St. Eustatia. 
It was a fine pleasant morning, the wind fair and moderate. 
The crew were all sober men, belonging to the town, all of 
whom had been with me, either in the Cornelia or Eclipse. 
They went from before my door in high spirits, expecting to 
be back in a few weeks, but none of them ever returned. I 
suppose that all of them perished that night in the Gulf 
Stream, for although the wind was fair, it blew hard in the 
night. The wind continued fair for several days after they 
sailed, and we concluded they would have a fine passage. 
While their friends and relations were rejoicing at the con- 



140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

tinuance of the fair weather, thej, I suppose, were all buried 
in the deep. 

About a month after the sailing of this schooner, another 
son of my brother James (William) came to my house. He 
was a very different lad from his brother — he was stout, 
active, and strong. He valued himself upon his strength, and 
being of a fiery temper, I found he had been in a good many 
scrapes. The war having prevented my brother from settling 
him to any business, he had contracted an acquaintance with 
some young officers, with whom he had been guilty of an im- 
prudent act, which his father threatening to punish him for, 
he set off from Reading with some young Carolina officers, 
and came with them to Xewbei'n, and from thence to me at 
Beaufort. He very ingenuously confessed to me that he had 
behaved improperly, and was much affected when I spoke to 
him about leaving his parents in the manner he had done, 
when he must have been well assured, had he requested it, 
they would have consented to his coming to me, and fur- 
nished him with everything necessary for his journey, and as 
there was nothing dishonorable in his conduct, would soon 
have forgiven him. The officers with whom he had travelled 
were anxious he should have joined their regiment, and had 
he wished it, I would have endeavored to have procured him 
an ensigncy, but he preferred the sea, which I thought much 
the best for him ; for in any country I considered the army 
as a poor employment, and in no country worse than ours. 
Had our army been in want of officers, I should, from regard 
to my country, have advised him to have gone into it, but 
we were in want of privates. William sang remarkably well, 
which I believe was one cause of his getting into bad habits. 
I have known several very promising young men ruined by 
their singing well. Their company will always be courted, 
and if not very careful of themselves, they will become dis- 
sipated and worthless. 

Having at this time a concern in a sloop nearly ready to 
sail, commanded by Capt. Hunter, who was married in, and 
belonged to, Philadelphia, William wished to go in her, and 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 141 

knowing Hunter to be a very sober, careful man, and a good 
seaman, I consented. They were l^ound to Curasao, and were 
to go from thence to Philadelphia, where I expected to meet 
her. But nothing was ever heard of the vesvsel or crew after 
she sailed from Beaufort. 

The very slight manner in which our small vessels were 
built .at that time, particularly in the Southern States, occa- 
sioned the loss of many lives. Many of the vessels that were 
sent to sea were not sufficiently secured to sail with safety in 
a river. 

Before the sessions ended, Mrs. Biddle w^ent to her Aunt 
Smith's, on Swift Creek, about four miles from Newbern, to 
spend some days with her. While she was there, Mr. Smith 
sent every evening a servant with a horse, to the ferry on 
^euse River, to wait for me. One evening before we landed, 
it began to thunder, and a gust coming on, the servant not 
perceiving me in the ferry-boat, and supposing, as it was late, 
I would not cross that night, set off with the horse. As he 
was in sight when we landed, I ran after him about a mile, 
when the rain coming on, he galloped off as fast as he could. 
Finding it to no purpose to continue the chase, I gave it over, 
and walked towards the plantation. The running had put 
me in a great heat and profuse perspiration, but the heavy 
rain soon cooled me. When about a mile and a half from 
Mr. Smith's, there is a path that takes off to it, and shortens 
the distance considerably. This path I took, and continued 
on it for some time, but before I could reach the gate, it came 
on very dark, w^ith repeated and heavy claps of thunder, and 
the rain fell in torrents. After wandering about a considera- 
ble time, finding myself groping about to no purpose, I sat 
down under a large tree, laying my hanger down at a dis- 
tance, fearing it would attract the lightning. In this disa- 
greeable situation I remained from half past eight until near 
three in the morning, when the rain ceasing, and the moon, 
which had risen a little before, shining out, I got up and look- 
ing round me, perceived the gate that led to Mr. Smith's 
house close b}^ me, the branches of the tree I had been sitting 
under all night spreading over it. Sitting with my back to 



142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the gate prevented my seeing it when it lightened. The 
gate was not a hundred yards from the house. During the 
night the old proverb was brought to my mind, that "the 
farthest way round was the shortest way home," and I made 
up my mind to be very cautious of taking short cuts. Had 
I continued in the great road, I should have got to the house 
before nine o'clock, with only a wet skin ; which, if a person 
is well rubbed and dried, I believe to be as wholesome, or per- 
haps more so, than any other cold bath. An old friend of 
mine, who is a remarkably healthy man, will frequently put 
on old clothes, and walk in the rain until he gets wet to the 
skin. I have known him walk in his yard when it rained 
hard, without his hat, from which he thought he received 
great benefit. 

Being naturally active (so much so that it was a remark 
of my friends, that they could never get me to sit for half an 
hour), sitting so long as we did in the Legislature was a most 
disagreeable thing to me, and what made it much more so 
than it otherwise would have been, was the frequent disputes 
between the members from the western and those from the 
eastern parts of the State. This I believe to be the case in 
all the States in the Union. Those from the westward look 
upon the people in any of the commercial towns, as little bet- 
ter than swindlers ; while those of the east consider the 
western members as a pack of savages. In their debates, in- 
stead of using the language of persuasion, which should al- 
ways be done in a Legislature, they were continually abusing 
each other. A stranger hearing the debates would never have 
supposed they were sent there to serve the State. Before we 
adjourned, we agreed to emit a very large sum of paper money ; 
and so much of it was in circulation before I left Newbern that 
I was obliged to give two dollars of this money for one Conti- 
nental dollar. Every person of reflection must at this time 
have been convinced that the paper money would cease pass- 
ing very soon. A good old Tory, that lived near Is"ewbern, 
and whom I frequently jested about his attachment to 
England, a country he had never seen, and knew very little 
about, told me, when we adjourned, that this was the best 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 143 

time he ever knew, for he could get a dollar for an English 
half-penny. I never felt the least angry with any of these 
people for their attachment to Great Britain ; on political 
subjects every man has a right to enjoy his own opinion, and 
provided he does no mischief, should not be disturbed. A 
number of people at this time, afraid of being drafted in the 
militia, pretended to be Quakers, and joined the Meeting. 
As this was likely to be attended with serious consequences, 
we were obliged to put a stop to it, by suiFering none to be 
excused that did not belong to the Meeting before the war. 
Several about Beaufort had been received into the Meeting 
that were the most profligate fellows in the country. In 
Virginia, I believe, the Quakers were not excused from militia 
duty, and even in Philadelphia I have seen some of them 
dragged up with the troops ; but it answered no good pur- 
pose, for nothing that could be done to them would make 
them learn the manual exercise, much more make them tight. 
It is very cruel to force such men to the field. 

At this time several of my old friends and acquaintances 
passed through l^ewbern on their way to join the army in 
South Carolina, among others Major John Stewart (who was 
known in the army by the appellation of Crazy Jack Stewart) 
and Major Lucas. Stewart was a native of Maryland, son 
of a respectable ship builder on West River, who had spared 
no expense in his* education. He was in Smallwood's Battal- 
lion at Elizabethtown when I was there in Dickinson's Regi- 
ment. It was here we became first acquainted. He after- 
wards distinguished himself at the Battle of Long Island 
and at the storming of Stony Point.* He told me that at the 
attack of this place they were directed where to enter by the 
fire of the British, and that if the British had not fired a 
shot the fort would never have been taken. He was a stout, 
handsome man. A tailor who lived at this time in Newbern 
had given great oftence to many of the inhabitants by his inso- 
lent behavior. As he was a strong man he thought he could say 

* Stewart led the forlorn hope iit the taking of Stony Point, and received 
a medal from Congress for conspicuous gallantry on that occasion. 



144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

anything with impunity. Stewart sent his servant to this 
man with some cloth to make a coat. The tailor, who had 
before measured him, sent word there was not enough. 
Stewart sent the servant back to inform him that he had a 
coat made in Philadelphia with less. The tailor told him to 
tell Major Stewart he did not believe him. I was dining 
with Stewart when the servant delivered this insolent mes- 
sage. " Go back, "William," says Stewart, with great calm- 
ness, " and tell him as soon as I have dined I will call and 
horsewhip him." After dinner, taking a horsewhip in his 
hand, he walked down, perfectly cool, to the tailor's, and, 
hauling him out of the house, with one hand held him, and 
with the other whipped him until he roared like a bull, to 
the great diversion of a number of people that his cries had 
assembled, not one of whom oftered to interfere. After he 
had tired himself, he left the poor tailor, advising him in 
future to behave with more complaisance to the officers of 
the army, a piece of advice I believe he took care to observe. 
He intended to have sued Stewart, but, as some of his 
acquaintances told him if he took out a writ against Stewart, 
he would certainly shoot him, he thought it best to drop it. 
I admired Stewart much. When speaking he had more the 
air and manner of an Indian warrior* than an^^ person I ever 

* I have ever had a favorable opinion of the Indians. They are accused 
of cruelty, but I have been told by many of the commissioners that were 
employed to treat with them, that when accused of any act of cruelty, they 
would tell of some act of cruelty committed by the whites that occasioned it. 
Mr. McClay, one of the commissioners, told me that when he mentioned to 
one of the chiefs his cruelty in burning Col. Crawford, "Why, yes," the 
chief said, " that was very cruel ; but," continued he, "a party of these 
people came to the town where I lived, when all the men were away hunt- 
ing, they drove my wife and nine children into my house and burnt them. 
This was cruel too " Would not the mildest Christian torture wretches 
guilty of such a crime ? I believe in this business Col. Crawford was not 
concerned. My brother Edward, who had been a considerable time among 
the Indians, had a very good opinion of them. W^ien they promise you 
their protection they will suffer any death to prevent your being injured. 
My brother, when in the army, was sent on an expedition with an Indian 
warrior. He was dressed and painted as an Indian. They were one day 
in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy. The chief told him, with 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 145 

met with. His speeches at this time were made to induce 
the people here to assist their brethren of South Carolina. 
This young man (he was not more than twenty-live years of 
age), after being in all the considerable actions fought this 
war in America, in a frolic in South Carolina rode down a 
hill that it was thought impossible he could have done, with- 
out killing both himself and his horse, without receiving 
the least injury. On the day after, he was riding slowly on a 
level piece of ground and good road, when his horse stumbled 
and he fell with such violence that he fractured his skull 
and died instantly. He often told me he hoped never to 
live to be an old man. 

Although very anxious to be in Pennsylvania, to see my 
relations and friends there, particularly n)}^ mother, who 
wrote in the most pressing manner for me to visit her, I 
thought it would be improper to go without taking my chance 
of being drafted in the militia ordered out to join the Con- 
tinental army. I therefore went to Beaufort and drew with 
the captains of Col. Bell's regiment, determined, if the lot 
fell on me, to go wherever we should be ordered. Our names 
Mere all put in a hat, and the first drawn wei-e to march with 
the men dratted from the regiment. Fortunately my name 
Avas not among the first drawn, and now having nothing to 
2:)revent my setting oflt', I took leave of my friends at Beau- 
fort, and about the last of May left it for ]S"ewbern. Mrs. 
Biddle and myself were in a chair. Our child we left in the 
care of its grandmother. We had two servants, one of whom 
rode in a good chair, the other upon a good saddle horse, so 
that we could change occasionally, and this is a very good 
way of travelling. If we had been in a carriage we should 
have been plagued crossing the creeks, where the bridges are 
frequently carried away. About a mile from the town, hear- 
ing a noise behind, I looked round and found it was made 

every token of regard, " not to be the least uneasy about being tortured, for 
the moment you are taken, I will tomahawk you." — AuTHOii's note. 

Colonel Crawford, who commanded in the unfortunate expedition to San- 
dusky, in 1782, was made a prisoner, and after being cruelly tortured was 
burnt at the stake. 
10 



146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

by a little sister of Mrs. Biddle, about eight years of age, 
who was crying and running after us. She was almost 
fainting when she came up. She declared she could not part 
with her sister, it would be the death of her to take her from 
her sister. As we intended to stay a few days at her Aunt 
Smith's, I thought it best to take her with us, and indeed 
we could not do otherwise. We took her in the chair, and 
sent a servant back to inform her mother. At Newbern, 
among others, I called on Governor ISTash to take leave of him. 
When I was going away he put into my hands a paper which 
he said would probably be of some service to me on my 
journey. This I found was a certificate, which is now by me. 
The following is a copy of it : — 

State of ITorth Carolina, 55. 

I do hereby certify to all whom it may concern that the 
bearer hereof, Charles, Biddle, Esquire, hath upon all occasions 
during the present war distinguished himself for his bravery 
and attachment to the cause of America; and having occasion 
to go to Philadelphia, I do by these presents recommend him 
to the notice and protection of the citizens of the United 
States. Given under my hand and private seal at JSTewbern, 
this 31st day of May, Anno Domini 1780. 

A. ]N"Asn. 

This was saying too much, and what I did not exi:)ect from 
Governor N^ash, as we had not been on very good terms after 
the trial of the Eclipse prize cause. 

On the first of June, 1780, we left ]^ewbern for Pennsylva- 
nia, intending to return in five or six months ; however, we 
have not yet, June, 1802, made up our minds when we shall 
return. We went from Newbern to Col. Smith's, Mrs. Bid- 
die's uncle. The third of June we left his hospitable house, 
and the next day went to Col. Blount's, father of Mr. William 
Blount,* who made so much noise afterwards, when he was 

* William Blount became Governor of the territory south of the Ohio in 
1790. In 1796, he was elected U. S. Senator for Tennessee, and in 1797 
was impeached by the House of Representatives on a charge that he was im- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 147 

a Senator of the United States, This son, with several others, 
was then at home celebrating the marriage of a relation of 
theirs with Mr. Richard Blackledge, who had been with me 
in the Cornelia, and cruising with me for the i*^ew York pri- 
vateer. His sister, Mrs. Jones, Major Stewart, and Lucas, 
Avere also here. At this time no family were more respecta- 
ble than Col. Blount's, and I believe Mr, William Blount 
would never have acted in the manner he did, if he had not 
been very much, distressed and embarrassed in consequence of 
his land speculations. He had married a very amiable 
woman, who was at this time with him. Stewart rendered 
the same service to many of the neighbors here, as he had 
before done to the citizens of j^ewbern with the tailor. A 
man who kept a ferry in the neighborhood behaved very 
rudely to almost every person that had occasion to cross. He 
was hated by every one who lived near him. Unfortuna^tely 
for himself, he oifended Stewart, who, as the ferryman was a 
militia officer, sent him a challenge by Lucas, and on his re- 
fusing to accept it, he gave him a severe beating. We spent 
two days here very agreeably in dancing and riding about 
the country. The third day we intended to set ofl', but there 
fell a very heavy rain that detained us two days longer, all 
the small bridges being carried away. From Stewart I re- 
ceived letters of introduction to his friends in Viro-inia and 
Maryland, and by all those we could call on we were treated 
with great hospitality. At Petersburg we met the Baron de 
Ivalb, going to the southward. Here the certificate from 
Governor jl^ash was of service to me, for they were pressing 
horses for the army, and I believe if it had not been for the 
certificate, I should have had one of my servants dismounted. 
Meeting here with Mr. Bowie, an old acquaintance of mine 
from Philadelphia, he introduced me to Col. Banister, who 

plicated in a plot to surrender a part of Louisiana to tke British. The Sen- 
ate, however, decided that he was not liable to impeachment. "By these 
proceedings against him," says Hildreth, " Blount's popularity in Tennessee 
had been rather increased than otherwise, and nothing but his sudden death 
prevented his being elected Governor." 



148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

invited us to dine with him. Baron de Kalb* was one of the 
sruests. The Baron was a tall, raw-boned man of about fifty. 
He was a military looking man, and had a fine body of men 
with him. In the evening we left Col. Banister's and pro- 
ceeded on our journey very rapidly. Two days before we ar- 
rived at Baltimore, we overtook Mr. Wiley Jones and his 
wife. He was a member of the Assembly during the time I 
was, had been lately chosen a member of Congress, and was 
on his way to Philadelphia to take his seat. In point of tal- 
ents he was one of the first men in America, but, like most 
Southern gentlemen, was too fond of horse racing and cards to 
attend much to business. 

When we arrived at Baltimore, I went to Mrs. Lux's. 
Her son had married a daughter of my brother Edward. 
Both the elder and younger Mrs. Lux were very amiable 
women, and from them we had the kindest reception. The 
elder Mrs. Lux was a very religious lady, every morning and 
evening she had all the family assembled to prayers. This 
sometimes occasioned her son George a good deal of vexation. 
He was very fond of backgammon. When playing, and de- 
sired by his mother to have the family assembled, if they did 
not hurry in he would get into a violent rage, and bawl out, 
"You black devils, why don't you make haste to prayers." 
When they were all in the room (the old lady would not let 
him begin if one was absent) he would read over the prayers 
as fast as he possibly could, and the instant he was done, 
would hurry back to his game. We staid a week to refresh 
ourselves and our horses, and then set ofi:' by the way of York 
and Lancaster for Reading. It is a saying of tlie people of 

* When this officer and the Manjuis la Fayette first landed at (leorge- 
town, I was there with Col. Morgan, on our way to Charleston. Morgan, 
hearing that two French oiHcers (for the Baron, although a German, was 
called then a Frenchman) had just arrived, reciuested me, as I spoke a little 
French, to go with him, and speak to them ; but I had seen and heard so 
much of the French officers who came over to enter into the American ser- 
, vice, that I had conceived a very unfavorable opinion of them, and told him 
' 1 supposed they were only barbers or tailors, and would not go with him. 
They were, however, both officers of great merit.— Autuok's notk. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 149 

Maryland that in travelling from Pennsylvania to the south- 
ward, the first countryman's house you stop at where the 
landlord behaves with politeness to you, you may be assured 
you are out of Pennsylvania. On the other hand, the Penn- 
sylvanians say, that in going from Maryland to Pennsylva- 
nia, the first farm you come to where you see a good barn, 
the fences all up, and in good order, you may be certain 3'ou 
are out of Maryland. The fact is, in Pennsylvania, the peo- 
ple are generally industrious and seldom take notice of 
strangers. In Maryland, they are very hospitable, but indo- 
lent. Upon our arrival at Reading it was with infinite pleas- 
ure I found my mother and the rest of the family well. 



150 AUTOBIOGRAPHV OF 



CHAPTER III. 

I CONTINUED in Reading the remainder of the summer. In 
the fall I went with Mrs. Biddle to Philadelphia, and would 
have gone thence to N^orth Carolina, hut as it gave my mother 
much pain whenever our journey was mentioned, I gave it up, 
and after remaining in Philadelphia all the fall, returned in 
the winter to Reading, where we had at this time very good 
society. Besides the inhabitants. Col. Butler's* Regiment 
was quartei'ed here, most of the officers of which were very 
worthy men. Lieutenant-Colonel Mentzger, who commanded 
in the absence of Butler (who was from Reading most of the 
winter), was one of the very few foreign officers that were 
valuable to us. He had been a Prussian officer, came here 
very young, and was of great service, being a well-informed, 
attentive officer. There was a Captain Bowenf in the regi- 
ment, an excellent officer, but he had a failing that occasioned 

* Colonel, afterwurd General Richard Butler, one of the most distinguished 
Pennsylvania officers of the Revolutionary army, and the eldest of five 
brothers designated by Washington as " the five Butlers, a gallant band of 
patriot brothers." General Butler was in continuous service throughout the 
whole war, part of the time as lieutenant-colonel of Morgan's famous rifle 
regiment. He distinguished himself especially at Saratoga and Monmouth, 
and led one of the two storming jjarties at the taking of Stony Point. He 
was present with his regiment in the operation on James River, and at the 
capture of Cornwallis. He was appointed second in command under St. 
Clair in his expedition against the Indians in 1791, and was killed in the 
disastrous fight on the Miami River on the 4th November of that year. 

A great granddaughter of General Butler, Miss Eliza Irwin Butler, of 
Pittsburgh, married, in 1877, Nicholas Biddle, a great-gi-andson of Charles 
Biddle. 

f Now settled in Charleston, as a printer, 1804. — Authou's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 151 

some disturbances. He often took oftence when none was 
intended ; he fought a duel with the major of the regiment, 
who declared to me he could not conceive, at the time he 
went out, in what way he had given oti'ence to Bowen, who 
did not mention it in his challenge, and the major would not 
inquire. They lired a shot, and Bowen had one of the buttons 
shot oif his coat; after which, the seconds -knowing them both 
to be very brave men, persuaded them to talk over the matter, 
when it appeared the major was walking with some girls the 
night before, and they burst out laughing just after Bowen 
l^assed them. Upon explaining the cause of their laughter, 
it seems it was occasioned b}^ the major telling them of his 
and Bowen's being at a dange the evening before, and the 
blind fiddler breaking one of his strings, the landlady took a 
candle and held it for him while he was fitting a new string. 
The mentioning the story, which the seconds had not heard 
before, set them laughing, and they all returned in good 
humor. Bowen was a seaman before he entered the army, 
and had a particular regard for me, and paid more attention 
to what I said than to any other person, by which means I 
had it frequently in my power to prevent his quarrelling. 
He was appointed Town Major, and one evening, soon after, 
I was playing backgammon with him, when Capt. Bower, 
who belonged to^the regiment, came in, and addressing him- 
self to Bowen, said, " I hope you are very well, major." 
Bowen immediately started up, " Don't major me, sir! JSTone 
of your majors! You know I am not a major, sir! What do 
you mean, sir?" Bower, who was and is a gallant officer, did 
not know how to behave ; he, however, declared he did not 
intend any offence. Bowen begged me to walk into the next 
room with him, and then inquired if I thought he ought not 
to challenge Bower. I told him in my opinion a man that 
would not fight on some occasions was not fit to live, nor 
was a man fit to live who was always quarrelling. I took 
him into Bower, and made them shake hands. Bowen's 
warm temper was of service to the regiment in one respect ; 
it occasioned all the officers to behave with great politeness 
to each other. 



152 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

In February, 1781, Mrs. Biddle was delivered, at the house 
of my brother James, of a son, three days after which the 
house took fire, and she and the child had nearly perished. It 
was discovered just at daylight. I then lodged at the house 
of a female friend, who, living in a lonely part of the town, 
was afraid of robbers, and begged me to sleep at her house 
durinsf the time Mrs. Biddle was confined. I was soon 
awakened by the cry of fire. Without waiting to dress 
myself, I ran to Mrs. Biddle, and taking her in my arms 
carried her out of the house to my friend Dr. Potts. There 
was at this time a deep snow on the ground, and it was ex- 
cessively cold ; however, neither mother nor child received 
any injury. We stayed at Dr. Potts's three or four weeks. 
I then rented a house, and not being of a disposition to remain 
idle, I went to Philadelphia, and purchased a quantity of wine, 
upon which I made a handsome profit. I continued doing 
business in this way until the fall of the year, when being 
anxious to make a voyage I engaged to go from Philadelphia 
in a Letter of Marque brig, called the Active, to St. Thomas. 
We had eight four pounders ; the crew consisted of ten men 
and four boys, besides the two mates and myself, with Dr. 
Valentine Standley, a passenger. We left the Capes in com- 
pany with a large fieet the 15th of l^ovember, 1781. 

My old shipmate, Captain Decatur,* went out in company 
with us in a privateer of twenty guns called The Royal Lewis. 
The night we left the Capes it blew hard from the north- 
east. The brig made so much water going upon a wind 
that we could hardly keep her free. About 10 P. M. I hailed 
Decatur, who kept near us, and told him we must keep away 
to the southward. He said he had an account the day before 
he left Philadelphia of two British frigates being cruising 
off the Capes of Virginia. I answered that I must bear 
away or the brig would founder, and accordingly I bore 
away. Decatur kept his wind a few minutes, and then 
followed us. At daylight we made the two frigates right 

* Father of the gallant young man who burnt the Philadelphia at Tripoli. 
— Authok's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 153 

ahead, not more than two miles oft". They immediately gave 
chase. Decatur hauled his wind. I stood in shore, deter- 
mined to run ashore sooner than be taken. Decatur was 
taken about 12 o'clock. We made our escape. 

Standley, whom I have mentioned above, was a handsome 
young man, a very good sui'geon, and of a respectable family. 
His mother now (June, 1802) lives near me. lie unfortu- 
nately fell into bad company, and, when he sailed with me, 
was addicted to gaming and drinking, either of which soon 
brings a young man to ruin. Had he behaved well he would 
have been a valuable man ; he was a surgeon on board one 
of the galleys at the time the Hessians under Count Donop 
made the attack upon the fort at Red Bank, and after the 
battle was appointed to attend the wounded. He declared 
whenever he was called to a He>sian wounded in the leg or 
arm, whether necessary or not, he immediately amputated 
it, to prevent their doing any more mischief. Although at 
the commencement of the war I was much prejudiced against 
these people, yet when I knew many of them, and considered 
they wei'e a set of poor wretches, obliged to go wherever 
they were ordered by their prince, my opinion respecting 
them was much changed. Many of them captured with 
Burgoyne were at Reading, and were very useful to the 
farmers in the neighborhood, who hired them and found they 
were hard-working, industrious fellows. I know several 
who have become men of property and behaved well ; one of 
them, J. A. Lewis, has been with me eleven years, and was 
in the oflice several years before it was held by me. He has 
a wife and five children, lives in a good house of his own, and 
is a very useful, industrious man. He was at the battle of 
Long Island, and at all the principal actions tbught in Amer- 
ica. He says, when he first came to America, he and all the 
Hessians firmly believed that if they were taken by the 
Americans, they would be roasted and eaten. Had the Hes- 
sians been ever so bad, the conduct of Standley would have 
been inexcusable. His own account disgusted me so much 
against him, that I would not suft'er him, after he had men- 
tioned this aftair, to eat in the cabin. We had a good pas- 



154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

sage, and fell in witli nothing until we made St. Thomas, 
when we saw oft' the harbor a brig, which wq found was a 
British cruiser. It was early in the morning when we first 
discovered her ; she was beating up, and we were going before 
the wind. Finding as she drew near that we could have no 
chance b}^ fighting her, I determijied to go into St. Johns, if 
we could get there. We were both becalmed off" the west 
end of the island, and we got out oars, and rowed for the har- 
bor. They got out their boats and towed their vessel to cut 
us oft". I had been in this harbor with the Eclipse, and knew 
they had a single fort. They got within gunshot of us seve- 
ral times, and would have taken us, if they had not been too 
eager. When within shot, they pulled around to give us a 
broadside, b}^ which means we got a considerable way ahead. 
They did this without doing us any injury whatever. Had 
they continued rowing w^ithout firing a shot, they would 
have been alongside before we ccnild have reached the harbor. 
They kept firing (and many of their shot reached the shore), 
until I hailed the fort to know why they did not fire. They 
then fired a shot which struck the water under her boltsprit. 
She then hauled oft". We learned afterAvards that she was a 
Kinff's Brio;, The master of her deserved to be broken for 
not taking us. My crew behaved very well, except one man 
whom I thought before this day, was afraid of nothing. He, 
however, endeavored to get down the fore scuttle. Whenever 
the brig pulled round to fire, my crew gave them three cheers, 
and were anxious to return the fire, but I knew if we broke 
off any of the men from the oars, we must be taken, and 
therefore would not sufter it. I went from St. Johns the 
same day in my boat to St. Thomas. Mr. Mitchell, an old 
friend, settled here, told me to be careful of the Governor ; if 
he knew it was me who had insulted their fort he did not 
know what would be the consequence. I found here my 
friend Falve3\ He was in partnership with a Thomas Reilly, 
under the firm of Falvey and Reilly. I sold my cargo, which 
consisted of flour and tobacco, to Mr. Lisle, a native of Phila- 
delphia, who was married and settled in Tortola. Mr. 
Mitchell was his surety. After delivering the cargo, he was 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 155 

to have returned and paid me in four days. He was gone 
ten. I was very uneasy, and Mitchell more so, fearing he 
would not return. However, he came the tenth day, and 
paid me honestly. He had been detained collecting the 
money, which was in new half Johannes, which I at first 
thought-he had been coining at Tortola. I purchased some rum 
at St. Johns, and having procured what dr}'' goods I wanted, 
sailed from St. Johns the 13th of December. Just before 
Ave sailed, Standley applied to me to take him back, but he had 
behaved ill on the passage out, and during the time we were 
at St. Thomas, and as I thought he would plague his good 
mother in Philadelphia, I would not take him. There were 
several privateers oft' the harbor; however we escaped them all. 
Two or three days after we left St. Johns, a fever broke out 
amongst the crew. For several days after they were taken, 
they grew worse, and more were taken down with the disorder. 
They complained of violent pains in their heads, and they 
were frequently delirious, so that we were obliged to confine 
them to prevent their jumping overboard. Upon inquiry of 
the second mate (the chief mate, Mr. Lecroft, was at his own 
request discharged at St. Thomas) what could be the cause 
of their disorder, he informed me that the people had filled 
the casks with water from a pond at the back of the fort, and 
perhaps it was OAj^ing to that. Upon questioning one of those 
employed in getting the Avater, he acknowledged, that finding 
it diflieult to get to the watering place, they had filled the 
casks out of the pond, and that one of the inhabitants told 
them not to fill the casks with that Avater, for it Avould kill 
them. KnoAving how very uuAvholesome bad water is, I had 
no doubt but the fever Avas occasioned by the Avater, but Ave 
had now none other to use. I Avas determined, if Ave had any 
heavy rains, to start the Avater Ave had, and fill our casks 
Avith rain water. The fifth day after we Avere out, we buried 
one of the crcAv, and had six so ill that they could not come 
upon deck. I had the sick removed forAvard, and everythino- 
made as comfortable for them as possible. We had a fine 
Avind from the time of leaving St. Johns, and I was in hopes 
the cold Aveather Ave now had would abate the fever, but it 



156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

had not that effect, probably owing to all the crew being in- 
fected with the disease before this time. The sixth day the 
stoutest and heartiest man we had on board, Leonard May, a 
young man born in Philadelphia, whose parents now live 
here, was taken unwell. As it was cold and rainy when he 
complained to me of being sick, I desired him to go below, 
but not to go forward among the sick. However, he found 
the place they Avere in, the warmest in the vessel, and went 
there. The next morning we found him dead ; he appeared 
as if he had been strangled. I was much concerned for the 
loss of this young man, for he was a very good seaman, and 
did whatever he was ordered with cheerfulness. He was tell- 
ing the second mate the day before he was taken unwell 
that he wished the sick would all make a general will and 
leave him their heir. 

The eighth day after leaving St. Johns, about one o'clock 
in the morning, the wind shifted from the southeast to 
northwest, and" blew hard. At daylight we saw a large 
ship to windward of us, lying to under her foresail. She so 
soon made sail after us that I was convinced she was a man- 
of-war. I therefore immediately bore away to the south- 
ward. At this time there was not a man belonging to the 
vessel, but the second mate and myself, but were sick or had 
died. We were then by our reckoning about twenty-five 
leagues from the Capes of Delaware. We had three passen- 
gers on board, and with their assistance made sail. At 
eleven o'clock, the weather being more moderate, we got up 
our topgallant yards and set the topgallant sails. At noon, 
while taking an observation, the chase fired a shot over us. 
I then hove our guns overboard. We. were now going ten 
knots, and there was so little difterence in our sailing that it 
was three o'clock before she got so near as to oblige us to 
strike. Being then within pistol-shot, and with no possi- 
bility of escaping, I hove to. They fired one of their fore- 
castle guns after we had hoVe to, when they were close along- 
side. The shot went over the quarter-deck, just above our 
heads. I was glad to see them fire the first shot, and was 
in hopes they would have luft'ed up, and given us a broadside 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 157 

as the brig had done, but they only fired from their forecastle. 
During tjie chase, as it was a fine day, I had several of the 
poor fellows who were sick helped upon the quarterdeck, 
and dressed in some uniform coats I had on board, of red 
and blue, in hopes they would take me for a British vessel, 
and leave oif the chase. Some of the officers told me after- 
wards that they did take us for an English packet, and, had 
they seen any other vessel, would have given up the chase. 
We found the ship that captured us was the Chatham of 
fifty guns, commanded by Andrew S. Douglass. She had 
chased a vessel the day before to the westward, which occa- 
sioned their being so near the land. We were all taken on 
board the man-of-war except four, who were too ill to be 
removed. A circumstance that happened a few days after 
we were taken, gave me a very unfavorable opinion of this 
Captain Douglass. The sick belonging to the brig complain- 
ing to me of their being badly accommodated, I wrote a note 
to him. His servant told the person I sent it bj^ that Cap- 
tain Douglass* had ordered him never to take a letter to him 
from any of the prisoners. I suppose this great man thought 
it beneath his dignity to attend to an unfortunate prisoner. 
Upon speaking to the second lieutenant he had everything 
that could be of service to the poor fellows done for them. 
I found the cooper of the Chatham (Merit Brown) was a 
man that had made several voyages with me. He was a 
native of Philadelphia, and married there. He was a smart, 
active fellow, and told me he had been impressed, but I 
believe he got drunk and entered. He was, or pretended to 
be, very anxious to get home. Thej' had also Abraham 
Wilbank, one of our Delaware pilots, who was a refugee, 
and left Philadelphia with the British. Two days after we 
were taken we had a hard gale of wind from the northeast. 
About one o'clock A. M., finding the ship to labor very much, 
and the pumps constantly going, I went upon deck with 

* I have seen a letter in the Naval Clironiele, from Captain Douglass, to 
his unele, Captain Hammond, wherein he says, " no man in his senses, well 
out of active service, would wish to come in again, for it is made u\} of envy, 
hatred, and malice." — AuTHOu's note. 



158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Mr. Potts, one of the passengers taken with me. The ship 
was lying hove to, there were but few men upon deck, and I 
saw no otHcers but the sailing master, who was an American, 
one or two midshipmen, and the pilot. I gave it as mj 
opinion to the sailing-master that the ship would lay to much 
easier if the mizzen staysail was set. He said no canvas 
would hold in such a gale. I told him I had been lying to 
on the coast with canvas set wdien it blew harder. He made 
me no answer, probably thinking it impertinent in me to 
give my advice. I soon went below with Potts, telling him 
as we went down that we wei'e in danger every moment of a 
sea breaking on board, and, as the ship was old and crazy, 
it» would send us to Davy Jones's locker. I had not been off 
the deck but a few minutes before the master had the mizzen 
staysail set, when the ship lay to much safer and easier. 
The officers then belonging to the ship were men less quali- 
fied than any I had ever sailed with. I doubt whether there 
was a ship in the British ]!^avy that had officers so little 
experienced. It is customary for officers in the British ISTavy 
to undergo an examination before they receive their commis- 
sions ; how these men did I cannot tell, but possibly they 
may have received their commissions while in America, 
without having undergone an examination. The officers of 
the British ISTavy that I have sailed with, or met with, were 
generally the best of seamen ; and brave, generous, and 
humane. I received so much kindness from Cadogan, Cote, 
Harvey, and others, that I never see a British naval officer 
without wishing it may be in my power to serve him. The 
officers of this ship, except the captain, were worthy men, 
and perhaps I should have had a better opinion of him had 
I known him better. He talked at one time of going into 
Delaware Bay, and anchoring in tlie Road. Had he done so 
some of the prisoners whom I consulted were determined, 
if we should have an easterly wind while there, to cut her 
cables if possible, and let her drift ashore. She was so old 
and crazy tliat if she took the ground there, she would never 
have got oft'. But Douglass thought afterwards he had 
better not go into the Road. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 159 

We criiised on the coast until tlie first of January, 1782 
when we stood for Sandy Hook with a fair wind. Two days' 
before, we buried John Shute, a fine lad that was taken with 
me. A cousin of his, of the same name, was left on board 
the brig. He was so bad the day before we wereytaken, that 
we were obliged to confine him to prevent his jumping over- 
board. It gave me great pain to use the violence we were 
obliged to use to this valuable young man, who had been an 
ofiicer m the American army. He went to sea, expecting 
through the interest of his friends to do better than he could 
do by staying in the army. When wo were tying him I was 
much affected with his calling out, " Oh t Captain Biddle' 
my dear Captain Biddle! will you stand by and see me 
treated m this vile manner?" Finding his entreaties could 
do nothing, he swore I should fight him as soon as we landed. 
Poor fellow! it was his fate never to reach the shore. 

The 3d of January we anchored oft" Sandy Hook. Captain 
Douglass, who was married a short time before to an American 
lady, went up to l^ew York in the cutter. About nine o'clock 
at night, while I was in the ward-room with the lieutenants 
and oflicers of marines, who were playing cards, one of the 
midshipmen came in as pale as death and cried out the ship 
was on fire. All hands were immediately called, and orders 
were given to heave water down the fore-hatchway, where a 
great quantity of smoke came up, and under this hatchway 
the poor American prisoners, to the number of sixty or seventy 
were grated down, and all the water thrown down went on 
them, without doing any service whatever. I never saw a 
man so much alarmed as the first lieutenant, Halby, was. 
He was in a situation that any one must have felt very sen- 
sibly ; but he appeared perfectly incapable of giving directions 
what to do. I begged he would give orders for the American 
prisoners to be let out of confinement, that they might have 
a chance for saving their lives, but he Avas too much confused 
to attend to me. The unfortunate prisoners were earnestly 
praying to be let out, but they prayed in vain. As the water 
was smooth and not very deep I told him he had better let 
the prisoners up, point some of the twenty-four pounders 



160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

down lier hold and sink her; there would then be no danger 
of our lives. He would perhaps have paid some regard to 
my request and advice, hut it was now reported that the 
Americans had set the ship on fii'e ; and I believe Dalby 
thought the improbable tale true, and therefore paid no re- 
aardto what I said, but looked on me with a suspicious eye. 
The second lieutenant, whose name, I believe, was Lyons, was 
asleep when the alarm was first given. As soon as he was 
awakened, and could recollect himself, he went immediately 
down into the boatswain's store-room, adjoining the magazine, 
where the fire originated. In the mean time, as I thought 
it very probable -the ship would blow up, five or six of us 
got a large spar, and as soon as the exertions to put the fire 
out were" given over, or we thought they could not succeed, 
we determined to heave the spar overboard, and jump after 
it. We should have had but little chance of saving our 
lives, as the wind was at northwest, and very cold, but it 
was the best method in our situation we could take. There 
was a ship of twenty guns lying about a mile from us, and a 
merchantman near her, and I was much surprised that signals 
of distress were not fired from the Chatham. They would 
probably have come nearer to us ; at any rate they would 
have been ready in case of an explosion to pick up some of 
the men that might survive her blowing up ; but Dalby 
knew not what to do, and the second lieutenant was below. 
It was about half an hour from the time of the first alarm 
until it was all out. The ship would, I believe, have blown 
up if it had not been for the second lieutenant. The crew 
was an excellent one, but where the commanding ofiicer is 
confused little can be expected from the crew. There was 
no order among them until Lyons came on deck, he soon 
restored order, and they passed the water to him as regularly 
as they could have done on shore. After the fire was over, 
and the officers again assembled in the wardroon), Dalby 
candidly confessed he was very much alarmed, which he 
imputed to what he had suft'ered formerly by a fire. This 
fire was occasioned by one of the boatswain's mates going 
into the storeroom, and snuffing his candle there. He was 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 161 

soon put in irons. I wa« once before this time on fire at sea ; 
it was when going from Jamaica to the Bay of Honduras! 
The mate had been boiling tar over the fire, when it boiled 
over, and we had nearly lost the vessel before it was put out. 
When the noise brought me upon deck the mate, instead of 
endeavoring to put the fire out, was going to get out the 
boat. I said so much to him for this, and for his boiling 
the tar without my knoAvledge, that when we arrived at the 
Bay he ran away. 

^ The day after the fire, the cutter returning from New 
York, we made sail to go up. We took the ground going 
up, and I expected the old ship would have beaten her 
bottom out, which, as there was no danger of our lives, was 
Avhat I should not have been displeased at. We, however, 
got safe off, and the next day anchored in the East River 
opposite l^ew York. We had been at an anchor but a short 
time before I was told a gentleman wished to see me. Going 
immediately up, I found it was William. Austin, an old, 
intimate friend, who had been in the tent with me when out 
m Cowperthwait's Quaker Company. As soon as he saw 
me he exclaimed, " My unfortunate Prince,* how are you ?" 
and, shaking me very cordially by the hand, expressed great 
satisfaction at seeing me, and obtaining leave for me to go 
on shore with him. He took me to his lodging ; and, being 
a good-tempered, friendly fellow, he did everything in his 
power to serve me. I went with him to Mr. Shoemaker's,t 
who had formerly been Mayor of the city of Philadelphi'a. 
He behaved very kind, and ofiered me any assistance in his 
power. I was much pleased with a circumstance he men- 
tioned to me, which was, that he had advanced large sums 

* When we were out in Cowperthwait's Company he had named all in 
the tent from one of Shakspearc's plays. Me he had called Harry, Prince 
of Wales; he was called Pistol. Upon his calling me Prince the officers 
ot the Chatham all stared at me, not knowing wiio I could be.-AuTiiou's 

XOTE. 

t Mr. Samuel Shoemaker, Mayor of Philadelphia 1769-71, who adhered 
to the Royal cause. His kindness to American prisoners is mentioned by 
Sabine (American Loyalist), and is confirmed by the above statement. 



162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

on loan to the Americans who had been brought in prisoners, 
particularly to those belonging to Philadelphia, all of whom, 
except one, had remitted what they had borrowed, and this 
one had died going home. 

The day after my being on shore I obtained leave to go 
on board the Jersey Prison Ship to see the remainder of my 
unfortunate crew. Much has been said about the cruel treat- 
ment the Americans received on board this ship. From 
what I saw and heard from prisoners whose veracity could 
not be doubted, they were certainly treated w-ith great inhu- 
manity. When I first went on board the remains of two 
of the prisoners were lying on the gratings,— they had died 
the evening before. Upon inquiring of a young lad that 
had been with me, of the name of Eckert (son of Col. 
Eckert, of Berks County), the reason of these not being 
buried, he said they were waiting until they had a boat-load. 
He may have possibly been misinformed. It w\as at this 
time reported, and generally believed, among the Americans, 
that the prisoners were poisoned. I believe it was only by 
their having unwholesome provisions, and cooked in coppers 
not cl-eaned, that they were poisoned. It was greatly to the 
honor of the American character, that, notwithstanding 
they were in want of everything to make their situation 
comfortable, and every method was tried to induce them, 
there was hardly an instance of a native American entering 
on board their ships. I never heard of any but Merit Brown, 
cooper of the Chatham ; nor am I certain he he did so of his 
own will. Had the prisoners in New York been treated 
with the same indulgence that those who were taken by 
General Carleton at Quebec were, few would have entered 
into the American service after their return home. His 
kindness had a great effect upon the officers, most of whom 
resigned as soon as they returned to their families. All my 
■ crew died except the second mate, now Captain Art, who, 
with great difficulty, I got exchanged with me. The brig 
never arrived, nor was she heard of after we left her, so that 
I have no doubt she foundered in the gale of wind we had 
two days after we were taken. She was injured by carrying 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 163 

sail the day of our capture. All the sixteen men and boys 
that went with me from Philadelphia were very hearty 
when we sailed,— the eldest of the men was not more than 
twenty-five years of age. It was melancholy to reflect that 
none of them ever returned to their relations or friends, 

After my return from visiting the Jersey, I observed two 
Hessian officers looking at me very attentively, one of whom 
at last exclaimed, in broken English, " Bv Got, it ish Cap- 
tain Bittle," and, advancing, expressed great pleasure at 
seeing me. I found the one who spoke was Captain Baum, 
and his companion another officer, who with him had been 
a prisoner in Eeading the year before, and had been lately 
exchanged. They begged me to go to their quarters, which 
I did, and was treated with great kindness by these gentle- 
men. During the time the Hessians were in Reading the 
conduct of one of the privates occasioned a good deal of 
laughter, although it was on a melancholy occasion. A 
Hessian officer of rank, whose name I do not recollect, was 
fishing in the Schuylkill, in a canoe, when he fell out. A 
servant on the shore, instead, it was said, of alarming the 
people at a house near, ran to inform the commanding officer, 
and before he came down the officer was drowned. Had the 
fellow called the people of the house the officer could have 
been easily sav^d, for the water was not deep. They saw 
the body at the bottom, and hauled it up, but it was too 
late ; they tried in vain to restore him to life. 

I waited on the Honorable Major Wallop, w^ho had been a 
prisoner in Reading. By this gentleman I had sent into I^^ew 
York two bills of exchange for twenty pounds sterling each, 
one drawn by Lieutenant Batus, on Coxe and Meir, the other 
by Lieutenant Wilmot, on Ross and Gray, London. These 
bills, Mr. Wallop told me, were not paid, but as a great favor 
he advanced me ten pounds on account of them. I after- 
wards found this Mr. Wallop had sent the bills to England 
by Captain Dillon of the Mercury Packet, who received the 
money for the bills, and gave orders to Mr. Vanhorn, his 
agent, to pay Wallop, and Mr. Vanhorn sent me Wallop's 
receipt for the money. This money of mine advanced by 



1(34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

my brotlier from motives of humanity (abstracted from 
every interested view) to those British officers in captivity, 
when every other source failed them, was lost ; for, although 
I frequently wrote to this Major Wallop (who is brother 

to Lord [Earl of Portsmouth], he has never answered 

my letter By the advice of a friend I also wrote to Sir 
George Young, Secretary at War, who never thought proper 
to answer my letter, which he should have done, lor the 
case was not a common one, and I was justified m my appli- 
cation to him. If he had any regard to the honor of his 
country he would not have let me have been a loser when 
he could have obliged Wallop to pay me; if he bad been 
a o-entleman he would have written me an answer. 

After being a few davs at New York, I was sent on my 
parole to Flat Bush, where at this time there were a good 
many American prisoners. We spent our time as agreeably 
as people in our situation could do. The Dutchmen here, at 
this time, began to think the British army would not be 
lono- in Kew York, and therefore treated the prisoners with 
oreSt attention. They declared privately they wished Gene- 
ral Washington success, and one night, late, Qur landlord 
and some of his friends returned home from New York, 
waked us all up, and begged we would drink something 
with them. I believe some of the guards had afironted 
them, for they were very noisy, abused the British Army, 
and repeatedly drank success to General W^ashmgton, declar- 
ing if he was to come on Long Island they would immedi- 
ately ioin him. In the morning, when sober, and our land- 
lord was informed by his wife of what he had said, he was 
a o-ood deal alarmed for fear we should mention sometiiing 
of'what had passed, and that some of the British oihcers 
would hear of it. He, therefore, begged us, tor God s sake, 
not to mention what had passed the night before, and con- 
sidering himself in our power, as in fact he was, he would 
have done anything we requested him to do. As we con- 
sidered these people a set of mercenary creatures, who cared 
for neither Americans nor British, but who would do aiiy- 
thino- for money, we were determined to plague them. We 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 165 

one day got a friend to come down from New York, who 
pretended he was sent by the commissary, Sproat, who, he 
said, had been informed that our landlord, and some others, 
had spoken disrespectfully of the British Government, and 
that he was authorized to offer liberty and a hundred guineas 
reward to any of the prisoners who would inform against 
them. Potts, my passenger, immediately after he heard 
him, called him to one side, and our landlord, who was 
present, supposing it was to relate what had passed, slipped 
out of the room, and, if I had not followed him, would 
have fled from the island. N'o poor wretch going to the 
gallows suffered more than this man. It was with great 
difficulty I could persuade him we were in jest. It had one 
good effect, I never saw our landlord drunk afterwards. 
Before this he frequently drank too much apple toddy, a 
drink at that time very common on the island. 

I went at one time as far as Jamaica to see Mr. John Potts, 
brother to Mr. Potts taken with me. Mr. John Potts was 
one of those unfortunate men who being attached to the 
British cause had left Philadelphia with them. It was at 
this gentleman's table I first heard of any complaint against 
General Washington. A British oflicer dining with us, 
talking of the general, said he knew an instance of his acting 
very improperly^ I told him that having never heard any 
complaints against him, I should be glad to know in wha't 
manner he had behaved improperly. He said that after the 
surrender of York, a number of the British, American, and 
French officers were invited to dine with Count de Rocham- 
beau, and that General Washington kept them waitino- an 
hour, and when he came made no apology. I told him it 
gave me pleasure to find it was nothing worse he had done, 
but as General Washington was allowed to be a well-bred 
gentleman, he possibly was mistaken about his not making 
an apology. During all the time of my being a prisoner I 
never heard the name of General Washington mentioned but 
with respect, except by this officer, and he had nothing to 
say but what I have mentioned. 

After remaining about three weeks at Flat Bush, I was 



166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

exchanged. Taking leave of my landlord, who was very 
attentive, I went to New York, and after taking leave of 
some gentlemen who had behaved very kindly and friendly 
to me, I embarked with a number of other prisoners, for 
Elizabethtown. On the passage we were detained all night 
by the deputy commissioner of prisoners, Robert Lenox, 
J going on shore with two ladies. I was much exasperated, 
but some of the prisoners'were much more so, and when they 
returned on board I was obliged to interfere to prevent their 
being very roughly treated. They deserved to be punished, 
for at that season of the year our situation was dangerous ; 
but I could not stand by and see women who appeared 
respectable abused without taking their part. They were 
very thankful for my speaking in their favor, and supposing 
from it that I would serve them further, wished me when we 
got to Elizabethtown Point, to claim a few things they had 
in the boat; but this I refused, not thinking myself justified. 
At Elizabethtown five of us hired a light wagon to carry us 
to Philadelphia. At this time there was a set of fellows who 
undertook to examine the baggage of every person from New 
York for what were called " run goods." It might have been 
proper to do it on the lines where people made it a business 
to go in and purchase goods, but to search an unfortunate 
prisoner, who, with the small pittance he had saved from the 
wreck of his fortune, had purchased a piece of linen, or some 
such trifle, it was abominable. These wretches robbed many 
prisoners of what the British had left them. There were two 
wagons of us set olf at the same time ; I was in the hinder- 
most. When we came near the tavern at Woodbridge I 
heard a very stout man that was walking the piazza, say in a 

loud voice, " I'll be d d if any man shall search Capt. 

Biddle's baggage." Looking at him, I found it was Ezekiel 
Furman, an old friend that served his time to a merchant in 
Philadelphia. With Furman I had been acquainted when 
boys, and in our boyish expeditions he always headed us. 
(It was not General E. Furman, him I did not know.) 
Although I had nothing that could be taken, I was very glad 
to see Furman, and to find him the same honest fellow he 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 167 

had ever been. Some of those in the wagon ahead of us had 
told him I was in the wagon coming up, and he waited to 
see me. If the people here had any intention of searching 
us they could not have done it. Furraan was as brave as he 
was stout, and he had several friends, and none in the wagon 
would have suftered a search without resistance. I was very 
sorry to hear from Furman that he had been unfortunate, 
and much more so to hear since that his misfortunes had 
made him intemperate. He married a Miss Wikoff, of a 
respectable family. Taking leave of this good fellow, we 
arrived safe in Philadelphia.* 

Being extremely anxious to get home, after waiting upon 
the owners of the brig, I borrowed a phaeton and horses from 
my friend Hepburn, and early in the morning of the 31st of 
January, set off" for Reading, intending to get there that night. 
When I reached Pel'kiomen Creek, twenty-live miles from 
the city, the rains and melting of the snow had raised it so 
much that they told me it was impossible to cross. Being 
determined to try, I drove into the creek expecting to swim 
the horses over, btit finding, that owing to the rapidity of the 
stream, it was necessary to enter the creek higher up, I put 
back and entered some distance above, expecting to reach the 

* In August this year (1812) I went to Long Branch. At Edentown, 
near the Branch, I4ieard that my old friend Captain Furman lived there 
(the person who was at W'oodbridge and swore none of my baggage should 
be searched when I came a prisoner from New York). When he came to 
the tavern I knew him immediately, although it was upwards of thirty-one 
years since we had met. He did not know me, but when I told him who it 
was that was conversing with him, he was greatly rejoiced to see me. 
Agreeably to his promise he came the next day to the Branch. He is a 
very hale, hearty man, and rode down on a race horse, which he mounted 
and managed with great ease. He has a large, respectable family. Upon 
some disgust he joined the British army, and being taken in arms would 
have suifered an ignominous death but for his relation General Furman, and 
some other powerful friends. He told me that after the war he lived near 
Frankford, and a report of some of his friends, that he could beat any man in 
America, had occasioned him many severe battles. It appeared to me that 
few men now could beat him. He has a small pension from the British Gov- 
ernment, to which government he is warmly attached, and has as much hatred 
to the French as any man in America. — Author's note. 



168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

shore abreast of the tavern. This I should have done had 
both the horses swam, but before they were half over one of 
them turned on his side, and they both would have been 
drowned if two men had not come off in a canoe, and assisted 
in keeping their heads above water. We got back with dif- 
ficulty. Finding it would be impossible to get over this way, 
I took the horses out, and getting tAvo canoes, with great 
labor carried over the phceton. By the time it was over I 
was almost perished with cold and fatigue, being up to the 
waist in water when swimming the horses. After procuring 
some clothes of the landlord, and refreshing myself, I hired 
a pair of horses and sat oft" with an intention of sleeping in 
Reading, but they were a pair of steady wagon horses that 
paid no regard to my impatience. Beating or cursing them, 
with all my exertions I did not get to Pottsgrove until after 
night. Pottsgrove is thirty-seven miles from Philadelphia; 
Reading, fifty-five miles. Early the next morning I reached 
home, and found Mrs. Biddle, William, and all my friends well. 

A few days after my return I was seized with the same 
kind of fever that proved so fatal to the unfortunate crew of 
the brig, and it brought me to the brink of the grave. 
Nothing but good nursing and having everything necessary 
to stop the progress of tlie disorder prevented me going into 
it. When at the worst, and little hopes were entertained of 
me, a profuse perspiration broke out on me, and recollecting 
what Smollet mentions in his novel of Roderick Random,* 
I covered myself up in blankets, which brought on so pro- 
fuse a sweat, that my shirt and bed-clothes were as wet as if 
they had been just taken out of the river. I felt myself 
better immediately after, and in a few days was perfectly'' well. 

In April I went with Mrs. Biddle to Philadelphia, on a 
visit to our friends. While there Mr. John Ross and Mr. 
Lecan, of the house of Lecan & Mallet, called on me to 
know if I would take the command of a large ship they 
had fitting out at Baltimore, intended for Cape rran9ois, 

* Reading Roderick Random first gave me an inclination for the sea. — 
Author's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 169 

and from thence up the Mediterranean. As I had at this 
time acquired some property, and had suffered a good deal 
the last voyage, I did not intend going to sea soon ; however, 
as they offered me the consignment of the cargo, I ao-reed 
to go, provided the mate they sent out with me, or 'some 
13erson sent out on purpose, should take the command of the 
ship after she was loaded, and ready to sail from the Capes. 
This they agreed to. As the vessel wanted a good deal done, 
and the owners were anxious for m^^ going down, I set off 
immediately for Baltimore. I found the ship was a very 
large, flat vessel, built by the British to attack a battery. 
She had twelve eighteen pounders on her gun deck, and six- 
teen nine and six pounders on her upper deck, forecastle, and 
quarter deck. She was, when in the British service, called 
the Sandwich, had been scuttled, and sunk by the British 
at^ York just before CornWallis surrendered, afterwards 
raised, and purchased by Mr. Ross, Lecan & Mal]et,«and 
some other gentlemen. They proposed she should carry all 
her guns, and one hundred and twenty or thirty men. After 
making out a list of everything she would want for the 
voyage, and seeing her in some forwardness, as the owners 
were not now in a hurry to send her to sea, I went the 
middle of May to Reading to see my family. Here I staid 
until the^ first of June, when Mr. Ross wrote me that the 
owners wished the ship out as soon as possible. The second 
of June I proceeded to Baltimore, and used, every exertion 
in my power to get the ship soon manned, and ready for sea. 
At this time it was very difficult to get men for any ship, 
much more so for the Friendship, as it was known she sailed 
very heavy. Wlien we entered a man, we were obliged to 
send him immediately on board, and keep him there, so that 
before I had my complement of men, the sailors and people 
at the Point called her the prison ship. However, by the 
20th of June I had all my crew on board, and waited with 
great impatience for orders to sail, which I expected every 
hour, when, instead of orders to sail, the owners wrote me 
that two ships commanded by Curwin and Earl, that had 
sailed but a few days before from Baltimore, were taken, 



170 AUTOBIOORAPHYOF 

and that the coast was so full of cruisers they concluded it 
best not to send the ship out, and ordered me to discharge 
the crew. This, after the trouble I had, was a disagreeable 
business. However, as there was no remedy, I discharged 
them all, and had proceeded about fourteen miles on my way 
home when an express came down from the owners to Balti- 
more, who, finding me gone, came after me ; they desired 
me, if I had not discharged the crew, not to do it, as they 
'were determined to send the ship out as soon as possible ; 
that if the crew were already discharged, to get another as 
soon as I could. This was a very mortifying thing to me , 
and I would gladly have quitted the ship, and would have 
done it had she been in Philadelphia, but as T thought my 
leaving her at this time would be injurious to the owners, 
who, although capricious, had behaved well to me, I returned 
immediately, and opened a rendezvous at Fell's Point, and 
there was one also opened at Philadelphia, so that in about 
three weeks I again had the ship manned. Several seafaring 
men, and one carpenter living at the Point, frequented the 
rendezvous to dance and drink every evening ; some of them, 
when half drunk, signed the articles without any intention 
of going in the ship. The night before we sailed I v/ent 
with a party of marines, and took all these people on board. 
The next morning the carpenter's wife, who, by attempting 
to drive the marines out of the house, had got some blood 
on her clothes, came like a fury to my lodgings, and was 
very abusive, calling me every vile name she could think of. 
l!^o fishwoman that I ever heard could equal her. After 
hearing her for some time, without taking any notice of her, 
I called up the boat's crew, and ordered them to take her 
down to the wharf, and duck her ; I had, however, no inten- 
tion of letting them do it. The moment they took hold of 
her she fell on her knees, and was as submissive as she had 
before been insolent. Upon her telling me they had children, 
I sent the boat off for her husband and two others, who had 
families. The rest, being single men, I kept. Taking these 
married men on board was of service to them ; it prevented 
their going to taverns and getting drunk. Several officers 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 171 

who had been in the American army, and who were left 
out of service, came down to go with me as volunteers. I 
represented to them that tliey could receive no advantage as 
volunteers on board such a ship ; however, as they wished 
to go, and the owners had no objection, I a2:reed to take 
them. Among these was a Captain Wilson, who, I believe, 
belonged to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had been a very 
promising offier, but, being intemperate, had become almost 
useless. Understanding his character from my friend Colonel 
Craig, who gave him a letter to me, I told him the first time 
he was the least intoxicated he should go on shore. Finding 
lihn drunk a few days after, as soon as^he was sober I called 
him hito the cabin, and represented the rnin he was bringing 
on himself and the disgrace it was to his family. Ile^left 
me, much afifeeted, and going to his cot, was seized with a 
fever which soon carried him off. Although the death of a 
drunken man is scarcely to be lamented, I felt concern 'for 
this young man, who was gentlemanly in his behavior, and 
who, had he taken care of himself, would have been an honor 
to his country. There came down also a Dr. Draper,* a little 
Irishman, who had been in the army. He was recommended 
by a relation of mine, to go as surgeon of the ship. He was an 
exceedingly good companion, but I had soon an opportunity 
of knowing that, as a surgeon, he was a very ignorant one. 
There were at thi*^ time in Baltimore two very hospitable 
merchants, who entertained a great many strangers. They 
were Mv. Hugh Young, a native of Ireland, and Mr. William 
Hammond, a native of Baltimore. These gentlemen often 
had large parties to dine with them, and it was very difficult 
to get from either of them sober. Draper was often with 

* Soon after the peace poor Draper went out surgeon of a ship from 
^ew lork to China. Upon the passage home, after they had received a 
pilot on board, he heard a piece of news that affected him very much • and 
while standing up for the town with a fair wind, and everv person on board 
but hmiselt in high spirits, as they generally are when comin<. oiY a Ion., 
voyage, he went forward, and jumped overboard and drowned himself. ! 
found afterwards that he had acted very imprudently before he sailed from 
JNew lork. — Authou's notk. 



172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

them ; he told me he loved those men, they always gave him 
cool wine, and enough of it. As they were concerned in a 
ship going ont with and consigned to me, I was obliged to 
be with them sometimes, but I always took care to have some 
one to call for me soon after dinner upon pressing business. 
Capt. Charles Craig,* brother to Col. Craig, was to come 
down and go with me as captain of marines. As he did not 
arrive at the time appointed, I gave the command of them to 
Capt. Whitehead, who had been a lieutenant and adjutant 
to one of our regiments. 

Just before vve sailed the celebrated Count de Benyowskyf 

* Captain Craig was a very brave, excellent officer. He commanded a 
troop of horse on the lines when the British were in Philadelphia. General 
Washintrton, and every person who knew him, was fond of him. He lett 
the arnTy at the request of Marks Bird, of Re'ading, and married his 
daughter. After the marriage, he wanted Craig to retract something he 
had°said about him. This^Craig did not think, as a man of honor, he 
could do. On his refusing. Bird did everything in his power to injure him. 
Craig declared several times to me, before I left Reading, that Bird had 
used°him so ill he had a great mind to shoot him. Having spent all his 
• money, and being bred to no business, he thought if he was gone Bird 
would take home his wife and infant child. He therefore determined to 
put an end to his own existence. He told his servant boy, who had been 
with him in the army, and had no idea of disputing any orders he gave hira, 
to stay in the entrv, and if any person came for him to tell them he was 
lyincr down. As there was a person asleep in the room where his pistols 
were he pulled off his shoes for fear of waking him ; he put the pistols 
between two pillows, for fear he should be met in the entry, and going into 
his own room, he lay down on his bed and shot himself through the head 
just at the moment his brother, Col. Craig, put his foot into the house. I 
never knew a more amiable man than Capt. Craig. I received the account 
of his death just before we sailed. It is said to be a cowardly act, but I 
have been acipiainted with four persons, who had all been officers, that shot 
themselves. They were Capts. Craig, Pry, Lockwood (of the British navy), 
and Lieut. Morgan. They were all men of undoubted courage. It is, 
however, a shocking act, and nothing can justify it. — Author's note. 

t The life of Count Benyowsky was one of extraordinary adventure. 
Born in Hungary in 1741, he died in 1786. His father was general of 
cavalry in the'lmperial Service, and he himself served in the Seven Years' 
War. After visiting Holland and England, he engaged as colonel of cavalry 
in the Polish Service, and, being captured, was banished to Kamschatka. 
Escaping thence (carrying with him the Governor's daughter), he reached 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 173 

came to Baltimore to go outwith me. He brought letters to me 
from Mr. ITolker, who was one of the owners of the ship. He 
had Avith him three foreign officers, and as I thought they all 
would he of service in case of our coming to action, which 
they promised they would, I took them. We sailed from 
Baltimore the 15th of July, 1782, having on board one hun- 
dred and thirty men and boys. My orders were to proceed 
from Baltimore to York in Virginia, and there put myself 
under convoy of the Sybil French frigate. When we arrived 
at York, I Avent on board the Sybil taking with me Count 
Benyowsky and a Fi-eneh officer that had been in our army. 
I told the captain of the frigate that as we were in a strong 
armed ship I expected, if we took any prizes during the 
passage, we should have a proportional part of them. He 
declared in presence of the gentlemen I took with me and of 
some of his own officers, that I should. It was the first of 

^ August before we went out of the Capes. In going fr®m 
York, owing to the misconduct of the captain, who thought 
he knew the channel better than the pilot, the Sybil took the 
ground, and had like to have beat her bottom out, which 
after our arrival at the Cape and their cheating us of our 
share of prize money I wished she had done. There were 
near thirty sail under convoy of the Sybil and my ship. The 
night after we left the Capes we fell in with two ships which 
we at.tirst took to be British cruisers. All hands were called 
to quarters and every preparation made to engage. Count 

^ Benyowsky I stationed at the colors, the officers who came 

Formosa and Macao, and, proceeding to France, was placed at the head of 
a projected colony in Madagascar. He arrived at Madagascar in 1774, and 
met with promise of success, but being discountenanced by the French 
Government, he returned to Europe, and again engaged in the Imperial 
Service. He distinguished himself in the. battle of Habelshwerdt in 1778. 
Still faithful to his Madagascar subjects, he visited England and America 
in search of assistance ; he was kindly received in this country, especially 
in Baltimore. In 1785 he again reached Madagascar, and in the followin<r 
year was mortally wounded in an encounter with French troops sent from 
the Isle of France. His memoirs, originally written in French, have been 
published since his death in many languages. 



174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

with him, among the marines. The Count appeared pleased 
with his station, and drawing a monstrous sword, he swore 
nobody should haul down the colors without my orders. He 
appeared very cheerful, saying " Hah, Captain I presently a 
fine battle." I believe he was perfectly brave. The ships 
proved to be Americans bound home. 

I believe there never was a vessel sailed worse than the 
Friendship. When we had a pleasant breeze and every sail 
set, some of the convoy would play round us under their fore- 
sails. The Sybil could at any time go ahead of us with the 
foretop-sail upon the cap. I do not believe there was a day 
while we were out that I could not have swam round her. 
However, as we had plenty of stores, an agreeable company, 
excellent accommodations, and were well fitted to fight, we 
passed our time very pleasantly. The officers wished to play 
cards, but this I would not sufter. It never should \)e suf- 
fered on board an armed ship. 

During the passage we took two prizes; one was a ship 
from St. Augustine with naval stores and skins, bound to 
London, the other a sloop from Barbadoes bound to New 
York with rum. The day we crossed the tropic several of 
the crew were ducked, and we had the usual diversions that 
take place on those occasions. After one of the marines, 
whose name was Clagget, a native of Maryland, had been 
ducked, he came aft and told me he had not only been ducked 
but treated very indecently by some of the forecastle men, 
and wished to know if he could not have satisfaction. In- 
quiring into what they had done, I found he had been very 
ill-used, and as he was a stout, active fellow, I asked him if 
he was willing to fight any of those who had behaved ill to 
him. He replied, yes, he would fight them all, one after 
another, and it was what he wanted. Upon this I made him 
go forward and challenge any one of them. Immediately 
one Jim E-yers, who had learned to box in Dublin, stepped 
forward, and stripping himself, said he was ready for him. 
Clagget was much the stouter man, and was as soon ready. 
In order to give them room I made them come aft on the 
quarter-deck. Ryers at first took the advantage of the rise 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 175 

of the quarter-deck, but after tlie first fall I made them take 
it in turn. The second fall Clagget jDut his thumb out of 
joint ; however, he was so powerful that he broke down all 
%er"s guards, and closing with him, gave him two or three 
such falls that I thought he would have broken his ribs. He was 
obliged to give out, declaring Clagget too strong for him. I 
made Clagget challenge the rest of the forecastle men to fight 
him; this, several were ready in a moment to do, but I was de- 
termined there should be no more fighting; indeed, I thought 
it wrong to suffer this, and would not have done it, but^ex- 
pected it would prevent in future any abuse of the seamen to 
the marines, of which they were frequently complaining. 
Aftei- this afiair I never heard of any complaint. The Sybil, 
when the battle first began, was a good way to windward of 
us, and seeing so many of the crew on the quarter-deck, they 
supposed there was a mutiny, and bore down and hailed us. 
It must have been a strange sight to a crew of Frenchmen. 
In fact I was very much ashamed they had seen it. 

Couut Benyowsky had frequently abused Congress and the 
Board of War, which, as he always behaved with great 
politeness to me, I did not say anything to him about, although 
It was disagreeable to me to hear him. But two days befol-e 
we arrived at the Cape, after dinner, when he was a little 
heated with wine, he spoke disrespectfully of General Wash- 
ington. This was what I could not hear without taking 
notice of. I told him there were a great many foreio-n 
scoundrels went to thearmy under General Washington, and 
when the general found them ignorant and good for nothing 
he sent them away, and they then abused him : that if he said 
another disrespectful word of the general, I would put 'him 
out of the cabin. He turned pale with rage ; he said I was 
now on board my own vessel, as soon as I arrived at the Cape 
he would make me answerable for insulting him. I told him 
if he ever spoke disrespectfully of General Washington in 
my presence, be it where it would, I would insult him. 

We arrived at the Cape Francois after a passage of thirty- 
five days, which with the winds we had would have been 
made in a fast sailing vessel in one-third of the time. I 



176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

found at the Cape a great number of neutral vessels, and the 
price of flour had fallen from forty to seven or eight dollars 
a barrel. Upon examining mine, I found that from the 
length of time it had been on board it had got full of weevils. 
This was a very disagreeable circumstance, but I never let 
anything of this kind make me unhappy. A man when he 
finds himself in diflaculties should never give way to them, 
and make himself miserable by thinking he could have 
avoided them, but should act with firmness and do everything 
he can for the best. My orders were after selling the cargo, 
to load the ship and send her to Europe, tieither of which 
could be done. All the proceeds of the cargo would not have 
paid the crew their wages, and those who wanted to ship 
w^ould prefer a neutral ship to ours; and I found during the 
voyage that the ship was not only a heavy sailer, but that 
her stern post was loose, and that she was otherwise unfit for 
a voyage to Europe in the winter season. Being ordered in 
case of any difficulties to advise with Mr. Gaultier, a respect- 
able French merchant, upon what was best to be done, I 
stated to him the situation of the ship and cargo, and told 
him Mr. Robert Smith (son of Mr. William Smith, at present 
a merchant in Baltimore) had oftered me fifty thousand dol- 
lars for the ship and cargo, to keep the crew, and pay them 
all the wages then due, and all the expenses the ship had 
been at since her arrival. He advised me by all means to 
take his oft'er. I therefore agreed with Mr. Smith, who had 
a contract with Count Galvez^, the Spanish General, to supply 
the Spanish army with flour, and wanted the ship to go to 
the Havannah. This was a good sale for me, and probably 
not a bad purchase for Mr. Smith. I understood that by his 
contract he was to receive twenty dollars for every barrel of 
flour wanted for the use of the army. Mr. Smith was a great 
favorite with the Count ; indeed, it was said by some wicked 
fellows at the Cape, that he was concerned with Mr. Smith, 
and received one-half the profits. 

Count Benyowsky left the ship without speaking to me. 
As he was in my debt for some stores purchased for him by 
my steward, I called on him at his quarters. I expected a 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 177 

very cool reception, and indeed felt some uneasiness for fear 
he should remind me of what had passed on board the 
Friendship, but I was agreeably disappointed, for he received 
me in a very friendly manner, paid me immediately, and 
offered to go with me to Governor Bellecombe, who, he said, 
was his intimate friend, and woidd oblige him in anything. 
I thanked him for his friendly offer; there was nothing the 
Governor could do for me without it was to give me a jDer- 
mission to sail for the Havannah (I had not then sold to 
Mr. Smith), which, as the embargo was just laid on all the 
vessels in the harbor, I did not expect he would grant. He 
said he would try that, and dressing himself went with me 
to the Governor, who treated him with great respect, and 
when the Count mentioned that he was under obligations to 
me, the Governor granted me permission to sail. This, if I 
had not afterwards sold to Mr. Smith, would have been of 
great importance to me. The Count, I believe, was mtch 
gratified at my seeing the interest he had with the Governor. 
It appeared from what passed that they had served together 
in the East Indies. During the passage he had frequently 
mentioned his serving in India as a brigadier-general, and of 
his being concerned in a great many adventures. From his 
account he was engaged with General Count Pulaski in aid- 
ing to carry off' Stanislaus Poniatowski,* King of Poland, and 
he told many aneedotes of what passed on that occasion. At 
first I paid great attention to him, but when I found he would 
indulge himself in saying anything at all I would not listen 
to him. Knowing him to assert many things respecting the 
American army that were not true, I paid little regard to 
what he said. He was no doubt a brave man, probably a 
good partisan officer, but from his conversation with Capt. 
Whiteljead, our captain of marines, who was an excellent 
officer, about manoeuvres of an army, he did not suppose the 
general had much military knowledge. He was a few years 

* If this statement is correctly reported, Benyowsky must have drawn 
a very long bow indeed. King Stanislaus was seized and carried off' on 3d 
Sept. 1771, when the Count was in Formosa. See his Memoirs. • 
12 



178 AUTOBIOGRAPIIYOF 

afterwards killed at Madagascar. The Count, when with me, 
said he was forty years of age, he appeared much older. He 
was about five feet eight inches in height, clumsily made, 
a sallow complexion, a determined, ferocious countenance. I 
never saw him smile, and suppose he never laughed in his 
life. He was very different from Dr. Franklin, who laughed 
heartily at any moment. 

At the trial of the two prizes taken during our passage, I 
put in my claim to an equal share, and appealed to the cap- 
tain of the frigate whether he had not agreed to my having 
it. He answered that he had agreed to it. The judge re- 
questing to see my orders, after reading them, told me that 
I was directed to proceed to York, and go from thence under 
convoy of the Sybil, and that by the laws of France no convoy 
was entitled to a share of any prize, and therefore I could 
receive none, that the captain of the frigate could not alter 
the laws of France. I used every argument in my power to 
try to convince the judge that there was a great difference 
between my ship and a French Letter of Marque, but all I 
said had no effect. If my owners had made use of the word 
" company" instead of " convoy," they said I would have 
been entitled to a share, but had this word been in I have no 
doubt but what they would have found out something to 
have cheated us of our share. I was sorry afterwards that I 
did not write to Dr. Franklin, then Minister at the Court of 
France. The crew of the Friendship were much enraged 
when they understood the decision of the court. They would 
have been guilty of some act of violence, if they had not 
been restrained, and were continually cursing the whole 
French nation. , 

About ten days after our arrival, the Friendship sailed tor 
the Havannah. The following morning IMr. Smith requested 
I would breakfast with him, and he would pay me. While 
we were at breakfast, he received a letter which, after read- 
ing, he handed to me, saying at the same time, " such a let- 
ter would take away some people's appetite." On reading 
the letter, I found it gave an account of the loss of the Friend- 
ship. The day she went out they discovered a sail a consider- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 179 

able distance in the offing, standing for them. They were 
then not more than three or four miles from the land, which 
they immediately stood for. The vessel in chase came up so 
fast, that by the time the Friendship struck the ground, the 
enemy was within gunshot, and fired at them. However, 
they did them no injury. The vessel was lost, but the cargo 
and most of the stores were saved. We understood after- 
wards that the ship that drove the Friendship on shore was 
the London man-of-war. Mr. Smith paid me in dollars, 
which I had carried to the treasury, and received government 
bills for them, which I remitted to the owniers. 

There were at this time continual quarrels between the 
French and Spanish officers anfl the soldiers. They appeared 
to hate each other most cordially. I dined frequently at the 
mess of some Spanish officers with Mr. Smith, and I never 
saw a French officer at the table. I believe they very seldom 
associated together. The Spanish officers often told kr. 
Smith and myself that they were much more afraid of the 
Americans disturbing them in their possessions in America 
than ever they had been of the British, and I believe they 
all would have been glad we had not been independent of 
Great Britain. 

After the Friendship sailed, I purchased a brig built in 
Philadelphia, called the St. Patrick. When I purchased her, 
she was under Datnsh colors. Of this brig Mr. Smith took 
one-half, I held a quarter, and Mr. Ceromo held the other 
quarter. :NTot being able to get a commission as an American, 
in order to arm 'her, I was obliged to get a French commis- 
sion as a letter of marque. This there was no difficulty in 
obtaining. We sent on board eight iron and six wooden 
guns, and loaded her with molasses and rum for Baltimore. 
At this time there was a large fleet in the harbor ready to 
sail for France^and a week before they sailed an embargo 
was laid on all the American vessels. I thought this very 
unjust, and particularly hard upon some that had been ready 
for some time, and had waited on purpose to 2:0 with the 
fleet ; I therefore requested a meeting of all the American 
masters, in order to get them to agree to a memorial to the 



180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Governor. We drew one np, and requested the interpreter 
to translate it, and go with ns to present it. After reading 
it, he said if he was to go to the Governor with such a memo- 
rial, he should be afraid the Governor would have him 
thrown out of the window. We, however, got it translated, 
and as I understood a little French, I agreed to hand it to 
the Governor. Captain Darby and some others were ap- 
pointed to go with me. Being anxious about the business, I 
walked fast and was soon a good way ahead of my company, 
when Darby, who commanded a ship belonging to Baltimore, 
called after me, " Biddle ! the captains won't go." Looking 
round I found there was only one with him. When he came 
up, he said those who had goiie back had "been talking with 
the interpreter, and they were apprehensive the Governor 
would give them a disagreeable reception, and therefore 
would not go. I told him if he was apprehensive, he had 
better go back with them, but I would go, if no one went 
with me. He swore he was no way uneasy ; the Governor, 
let him do his worst, could only hang him, and that he did not 
regard. When I handed the Governor the memorial, he read 
it, and then addressing us with great politeness, said he had 
nothing to do with the embargo, that it was a business of 
the admiral's. As the admiral was at the other end of the 
room, I begged the Governor would have the goodness to speak 
to him ; upon which he called him and gave him the memo- 
rial. After reading it he said he thought the embargo neces- 
sary for fear some of the Americans should be taken and give 
information to the British respecting the 'fleet. Upon my 
observing we were all in fast-sailing vessels, and not so liable 
to be taken as the French merchant ships, he said he under- 
stood all our vessels were not commanded by Americans, and 
they might run to leeward and inform the British. I told 
him that could be easily prevented by our l>:eeping close to 
the men of war ; he, however, thought there would be some 
risk, and would not consent to our going with the fleet, but 
seeing we were much discontented with our being detained, 
he and the Governor both assured us the embargo should be 
taken off" in two or three days after the fleet sailed, and the 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 181 

admiral said he would send us a frigate to convoy us clear 
of the Keys. "With this assurance we left thera. 

Whitehead, who came out captain of marines with me in 
the Friendship, and left her in order to continue with me, 
was about this time arrested by his tailor, an English rene- 
gade, who had deserted from the British army, and found 
his way here. They had some dispute about the account 
before the arrest. Whitehead had told him he must be a 
worthless scoundrel to desert his country. He declared to 
me he had paid the account, that, as it was but a trifle, he 
would pay it again, but he could not think of being imposed 
upon by such a rascal. Taking a respectable old merchant, 
Mr. Mernier, with me, I went to the judge, and told him 
Mr. Whitehead had been an oflieer in the American army, 
that I knew him to be a young man of strict honor that 
would not say he had paid the tailor without he had really 
done it. The judge, who knew the tailor to be a bad fellow, 
immediately ordered him out of the house; and thus the 
business was ended. I thought this an excellent way of set- 
tling a law suit, and if we could always rely upon having an 
upright judge it would be a much better way than leaving it 
to an ignorant or partial jury. A friend of mine, Mr. Collin- 
son Read, that had a cause to try in ISTorthampton County, 
told me that upon hearing the evidence, he found he could 
say nothing in faVor of his client, he therefore just observed 
to the jury, that the cause was so plain he would give them 
no trouble. When the jury returned he was much surprised 
to find they brought in a verdict in favor of his client, and 
as he went out of court the foreman took him to one side, 
saying, " Mr. Read, I know the verdict should have been in 
favor of the plaintiff, but you did my son a great favor, and 
so I was determined to be your friend, and therefore per- 
suaded the jury to give a verdict for your client." 

Mr. Mernier, whom I have mentioned, was a very worthy 
man, who had been settled many years at the Cape. I had 
letters to him from an old friend, and he insisted upon my 
staying at his house. We frequently disputed about the 
liberties enjoyed by the people of France and America. He 



182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

had been in America, and said we had too ranch liberty, that 
there was not so much respect paid to gentlemen of rank as 
there should be. The lower orders of people behaved as if 
they were on a footing with them. He allowed it was a 
very fine country, but thought the government not by any 
means so good as theirs, that the French had as much liberty 
as they ought to have. I told him that in America perhaps 
there was not that respect paid to the officers of government 
there should be, but that in France they certainly wanted 
much reformation ; a poor man hardly ever knew what it 
was to have a good meal, nor could he call anything his own. 
He replied, it was no matter, they were contented. He, how- 
ever, soon altered his opinion. Governor Bollecombe one 
day sent an order for him to be taken to the fort, where he 
had this good man, who was near seventy years of age, con- 
fined for a week without any of his family or friends being 
permitted to see him ; and the only reason given for it was, 
that he, who was an officer (I believe in the militia), had 
come upon the parade without pulling off his hat to the 
Governor. This was the reason expressed, but the true reason, 
Mr. Mernier said, was that the Governor wanted to borrow 
some money of him, which he knew the Governor would 
never repay, and he had, therefore, refused him. Poor 
Mernier never said anything to me after this of our having 
too much liberty in America. He said he would, and I 
afterwards understood he did, send a memorial to the King, 
complaining of the conduct of this Governor, who received 
a reprimand for his usage of Mr. Mernier. The behavior 
of this Governor Bellecombe, so different from that of the 
judge, convinced me that it was dangerous trusting a man 
with too much power, for the Governor was generally 
esteemed a good man. 

The embargo was taken off in three or four days, but the 
frigates did not return. Darby and myself determined to 
sail together, and, should we fall in with any cruiser, to stand 
by each other. He was in a ship of eighteen guns and 
seventy-five men. I had in the brig, including passengers, 
forty men. I had also as passengers two French women, a 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 183 

mother and daughter, going to see some relations in Balti- 
more. The daughter was a sprightly, brown girl of sixteen ; 
the mother a swarthy dame, about forty. We sailed from 
the Cape the 25th of September, 1782. I was mortified 
when we got out to find that the bris; did not sail well, and 
that she w^as very crank. We had good weather until we 
struck soundings a few leagues to the southward of Cape 
Henry, when the wind shifting to the southeast it became 
cloudy, and looked as if it was going to blow hard. About 
ten o'clock, the moon breaking out, we saw two sail, a ship 
and a brig, standing after us. At twelve o'clock they were 
still after us, although they were not much nearer than at 
ten o'clock. At one o'clock we had a squall which did not 
clear away until near two o'clock, when we discovered the 
two sail had neared us very much. Darby and myself were 
not a cable's length from each other, and both prepared for 
action. We neither of us had been oif the deck from the 
time we first discovered the two sail. At two o'clock Darby 
hailed me : " Biddle, do you see these pirates are coming up 
with us?" I replied that I did, and that we had better 
heave to and engage them, or oblige them to sheer ofi"; which 
he agreeing to, we immediately hauled up our foresail and 
hove to, and Darby did the same. We were determined to 
have the first broadside if we could ; however, as soon as 
they perceived we were lying to to engage them, they hauled 
off" upon a wind, and we soon lost sight of them. As soon 
as we hove to I had the two female passengers, who were a 
good deal alarmed, taken into the cockpit, and, as the old 
one had been very troublesome, kejit them there a consider- 
al)le time after we bore away, which we did as soon as the 
two sail were out of sight. Before daylight we anchored in 
Hampton Roads. The next day a flag of truce came in, who 
had been boarded by the two vessels which chased us. They 
were a ship and brig, privateers from jS^ew York; the ship 
commanded by a Captain Hazard, an old acquaintance of 
mine ; however, I was glad we did not at this time renew 
our acquaintance. He was a native of Rhode Island, one of 
the stoutest and best tempered men I ever knew, but no 



184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

seaman. Considering himself ill-nsed in not being exchanged 
when he thought he should have been, he joined the British, 
and was very troublesome on the coast. They, fortunately 
for us, took Darby's ship for a French frigate that was said 
to be on the coast. 

After obtaining some refreshments we proceeded to Balti- 
more, where we arrived the 8th of October. A French 
corvette lying at this time at Baltimore, seeing us under 
French colors, sent her boat on board. They were much sur- 
prised to find there was not one on board could speak a word 
of French, for I had just before gone with the two French 
women on shore. The ladies went to their relations, and 
soon after the younger had the good fortune to attract the 

notice of Mr. , the French Consul, who, a few days 

after our arrival, married her. Dining at Grant's with a 
large company, a person called to me and told me my pas- 
senger was going to be married. I inquired to whom, when 
he informed me to the French Consul. I said it was very 
well ; had it been to an American I should have forbidden 
the banns. One of the consul's friends called on me the next 
day to know what was my meaning. I told him it was 
spoken in jest; that, however, he was at liberty to put any 
meaning he pleased on what was said. She was a lively girl, 
wlio, when it was cold, would put on any of my clothes, 
dance on the quarter-deck in them, and perform some other 
monkey tricks which I suppose she thought there was no 
impropriety in. Custom reconciles most things. 

My French ladies disgusted all the other passengers, as 
well as myself, the first night they came on board. We 
supped on the quarter-deck, and after supper they squatted 
down before us and wet the quarter-deck. This I had heard 
and read of as being common, but I had never seen it before. 
The most common street-walker with us would not have 
done thus. 

As soon as the brig was ready for sea I sent her out under 
the command of one Atchison, who had come in as my mate. 
Being convinced we should soon have peace, I sold my share 
of the brig to Mr. Smith at the rate of six thousand 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 185 

pounds (six months after she would not have sold for as 
many hundred), and set off for Reading, being very impatient 
to see my family. Mrs. Lux wishing to see her mother, we 
sat oif together. When we arrived at Reading we had the 
satisfaction to find our friends all well. In the month of 
February, 1783, Mrs. Biddle was delivered of a son, whom I 
called James, after my brother. 

In the spring of 1783, while calling in the coffee-house, 
Captain Budden called me out. He told me that Crathorne* 
who had behaved so ill in Jamaica, was just arrived from 
Providence, and' that his vessel was lying at Market Street 
wharf. As I considered this man the occasion of my long 
confinement, and of the death of many an American, I was 
anxious to see him. Going immediately with Budden on 
board his vessel, we searched every part of her without find- 
ing him. I stayed in town four or five days, during which 
time diligent search was made for him, but without efifect. 
Had he been found I was determined to cut his ears off", for 
which purpose I had borrowed a penknife at the coffee-house. 
Many years after he died miserably in the bettering-house. 

Going to Philadelphia soon after, I agreed with a relation, 
Mr. Clement Biddle, and with Mr. James Collins, to go to 
ISTew York, and there charter two or three British vessels for 
the West Indies. I obtained permission from the Supreme 
Executive Council, and went to 'New York. At this time 
New York was crowded with Americans from all parts of 
the continent, who went in to speculate, or to see their friends. 
A story was told at this time of a New England man, who 
occasioned a good deal of laughter. He had some dispute 
about his permission, when the British officer refused to let 
him enter. " Well, I vow," says the Yankee, " you are very 
bold, considering you are a conquered people." 

JSTew York was at this time a very disagreeable place to 
me. Man}^ unfortunate Americans who had joined tli£ 
British army were now extremely anxious to return to their 
former places of residence, among others, my unfortunate 

* See pages 93, 94. 



186 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

brother John. He had been in the British service before the 
war, and remained attached to them. I felt much pain for 
these nnhapp3^ people, for whom the British Government, 
to their honor be it said, provided generously. 

I chartered a ship and a snow by the month, to proceed to 
Philadelphia, and there load for the "West Indies. As I had 
a 2;ood deal of unsettled business in Hispaniola, I was deter- 
mined to go out myself and settle it. The ship and snow* 
were sent to Cape Francois. I took my passage in a small 
French schooner commanded by Capt. Le Faure, an old 
acquaintance of mine, bound to Port au Prince. A short 
time before we sailed I had an account of the death of Mr. 
Robert Smith at Cape Fran(;ois. He had purchased a mulatto 
girl, who lived with him, and imprudently informed her of 
some provision he had made for her at his death. Although 
there was no proof, it was strongly suspected she hurried him 
out of the world. He was an amiable young man, and I 
believe left a handsome fortune, but having no person about 
him to take care of the property, the family recovered little 
or nothing. 

We sailed from Philadelphia in June, 1783. There were 
besides myself, two or three French, gentlemen, and Mayer 
Polonois, a poor Jew, passengers. I do not mean poor as to 
money, for probably he had more than any other person on 
board, but unfortunately Le Faure took a dislike to the man, 
and treated him very roughly. One day at dinner, the Jew 
saying something disrespectful of the French army, Le Faure 
started up in a rage, threw the Jew's plate, with his silver 
fork, and all that was on the plate, into the sea, and, if I had 
not interfered, I believe he would have thrown the Jew in 
after them. He never after this would permit the Jew to 
dine in the cabin. Except the disputes with this poor devil, 
we had an agreeable time. As I had some business to settle 
with Messrs. Musculas & Rondineau at the Mole St. Nicolas, 
Le Fanre who was very friendly to me, put in there and 

* Perhaps it may be as well to explain that the " snow" was a two-masted 
vessel rigged very nearly like a brig. The term is obsolete. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 187 

waited a clay for me. He afterwards landed me at Leogane, 
where I also had some business for a friend. After landing 
me he proceeded to Port an Prince. I stayed two days at 
Leogane, which if it was not sickl}^ would be an agreeable 
place. From here I went to Port an Prince by land, where 
I found that most of my former friends, Mr. Pasquer, Mr. 
Peyrobe, and others, were dead. Barere, the interpreter, was 
still here, and in business, and gave me a very friendly re- 
ception. Barere was a native of Bayonne, but had liA^ed 
for some years in Boston, where he married. He had one 
son, who at this time was in France. 

Polonois called on me to consult me about suing Le Faure. 
I should have advised against it, even if LeFaure had been 
a man I had no regard for, knowing, as he had mentioned 
the French navy and army with disrespect, and spoken very 
favorably of the British, he would be treated as badly by the 
court as Polonois was by the captain. He was, howeVer, 
persuaded to bring a suit. He wrote me afterwards that he 
wished he had taken my advice, for the suit went against 
him, and Le Faure in turn sued him for his passage and stores 
and recovered ; although in consequence of his loading the 
vessel Polonois was to have had his passage free. 

After settling my business at Port au Prince, I was deter- 
mined to go by land to the Cape. This was an undertaking 
my friends at Poft au Prince. as well as those at Leogane and 
the Mole advised me against, but as I was anxious to get to 
the Cape, and knew it was very uncertain when I could get 
there by water, they could not alter my intention. They 
represented it as a journey, at that season of the year, very 
disagreeable and dangerous. I took letters from Barere for 
several persons on the road, and had letters from other gen- 
tlemen. The first place I stopped at, after leaving Port au 
Prince, was St. Marks, where I was again advised to give up 
my journey by land. They represented the country as very 
unhealth}^, and liable at that season of the year to be over- 
flowed ; but having made up my mind before I left Port au 
Prince, nothing they could say made any impression on me. 
From St. Marks Barere's friend sent me in his carriasce a few 



188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

miles, and I was sent in carriages or on horseback from one 
plantation to another, until I reached the Cape. The journey, 
on account of the excessive heat, was very disagreeable, but 
not so bad as it had been represented. The planters to whom 
I had letters behaved with great politeness and attention. 
My speaking a little French was of much advantage, and a 
packet from the Chevalier de la Luzerne to the Governor 
was of service to me. Some of those who saw the packet 
oftered to send it to the Governor with more expedition than 
I could take it, but I represented it to be of too much conse- 
quence to be trusted to any person they could send. My 
having the packet was owing to my requesting my friend, 
Gen. Mitflin, to procure a letter of introduction from the 
Chevalier to the Governor. At the Cape the letter was of 
service. A person going to any distant place, but particularly 
to a foreign country, should carry letters of introduction, if 
he can procure them. They are sometimes of great service ; 
if you have no occasion for them, they give but little trouble. 
I found at the Cape the ship discharging her cargo. After 
settling my business here, and providing a cargo for the ship, 
I took my passage in a brig bound to Wilmington. We left 
Cape Francois the 13th of August, 1783, and without any- 
thing material happening, we arrived off Cape Henlopen 
the 27th. It was night when the pilot boat came alongside. 
I inquired what news. Instead of answering the question 
he desired to know who it was speaking to him. J told 
him Captain Biddle. " Captain Biddle !" he exclaimed, "I 
never hear that name without being greatly affected." 
When he came on board he told me my voice was so much 
like that of my brother Nicholas, that he was quite astonished 
when I hailed him, and , if he had not been certain of his loss, 
he should have supposed it was him who was speaking ; that 
he had been a master's mate on board the Randolph, and 
was put on board a prize the day before her loss. He spoke 
of my brother as one for whom he would have sacrificed his 
life. The 29th of August I landed at Wilmington, and 
went up the same day in the -stage to Philadelphia, and the 
next to Reading, where I found my family all well. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 189 

Mr. James Collins, with whom I was acquainted while a 
l^risoner in New York, had come from there, and settled in 
Philadelphia. During my absence he married Lydia Biddle, 
daughter of my brother James. He was a genteel man, of 
a good family, and was strongly recommended to my brother 
as a very worthy man by Mr. John Maxiield [N^esbit, and 
several other respectable Irish gentlemen of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Collins entered into partnership with Captain Thomas 
Truxtun, under the firm of Collins & Truxtun. They opened 
a large dry goods store, which they wished me to join them 
in, but I was always averse to entering into any partnership. 
Without you can place the utmost confidence in the honor, 
integrity, and prudence of your partner, your mind must be 
always uneasy, for it is in the power of a partner to ruin 
you. It was very fortunate for me that I did not join in 
this partnership. Being just before the close of the war 
that they commenced business, they set up a ship to carry 
twenty guns, and sent for a large quantity of goods. At the 
peace these goods fell considerabl}', and the ship, which cost 
them nearly sixteen thousand pounds, sold, I believe, for four 
thousand, so that they were eoon obliged to stop payment, 
and, but for the honorable conduct of Captain Truxtun, 
several of their friends, as well as myself, would have been 
considerable losers by endorsing their notes. Collins not 
having the meaiie of doing anything for his creditors, took 
the benefit of the Bankrupt Law ; but Truxtun would not 
do this. He went commander of a ship to India, declaring 
that not one of the endorsers should be a loser by him, and 
he was as good as his word, paying the endorsers every 
farthing due from the house. Such conduct will always 
make a man esteemed and respected, and every one will 
endeavor to push him forward in the world.^' The practice 

* Commodore Truxtun, after seeing much service during the war of the 
llevohition in command of different armed vessels, was, on the re-organiza- 
tion of the navy, in 1794, commissioned as the fifth captain on the list. 
"Whilst in command of the Constellation he captured the French frigate 
L'Insurgente, and in February, 1800, off' Guadaloupe, he had a fierce 
and bloody night engagement, lasting five hours, with the French frigate 



190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

of endorsing notes was little understood here at this time. 
Many persons would endorse notes for a thousand pounds 
for a friend or acquaintance, who would not trust them to 
the amount of tive pounds in money, supposing the endors- 
ing a note to be a mere matter of form ; however, the matter 
of form proved a matter of substance to many who were 
ruined by it. The directors of the Bank of North America, 
at this time the only bank in America (without probably 
intending to do wrong), did a great deal of mischief. If a 
note was refused being discounted, they would tell the man 
who oftered the note, go and get such a one, naming some 
friend or acquaintance, to endorse your note, and it shall be 
done. By this means many a worthy man was ruined. 

This fall I received a letter from my old friend Capt. Thos. 
Allen, who wrote me he Avas just leaving North Carolina for 
Philadelphia in a fine new ship, to iit her completely, and 
charter her. He expressed great satisfaction at the pleasure 
he should have in seeing me, and a wish that we should be 
settled in the same place ; and that when he saw me he would 
endeavor to persuade me to return to JSTorth Carolina, but 
that if he could not, it was probable he should remove his 
family to Philadelphia. I was in daily expectation of seeing 
him, when we had an account of his loss, the ship having 
overset in a heavy squall. A schooner that was about a mile 

La Vengeance. The two ships were of equal force. The contest ended by 
the French ship sheering otf, and finally escaping, owing only to tlie loss of 
the Constellation's mainmast. 

Truxtun was an excellent seaman and an officer of the highest spirit and 
courage. In 1802 he left tiie service, owing, as he always maintained, to 
a misconstruction put upon his letter giving up the command of a squadron 
to which he was appointed. The Secretary of the Navy insisted (very 
strangely, considering Truxtun's high reputation) that the letter was a I'esig- 
nation from the navy. This view prevailed, to Truxtun's great indignation. 
The Commodore was a good hater, and denounced the Secretary to the day 
of his death ; in fact, was anxious to hold that gentleman jjersonally resjjonsi- 
ble, alter the fashion of the day. 

He was subsequently elected High Sheriff of Philadelphia, and died uni- 
versally respected in 1822. He is worthily represented in the navy at this 
day by Captain William T. Truxtun, distinguished in the war of 1861-5. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 191 

to leeward of her, saw her overset and founder, without 
being able to afford them any assistance. The whole crew 
l^erished. It was with great pain I heard of the loss of this 
worthy man, for whom I had the affection of a brother. 

I employed myself during the fall and winter in keeping a 
small store of goods with which I made as much as main- 
tained my family, but intending to enter more largely into 
business I thought Philadelphia would answer me better than 
Reading, and therefore intended in the spring to move 
there, but some of my friends in Berks wishing me to remain 
in Reading until the fall, when there was to be an election 
for a member of the Supreme Executive Council, which they 
wanted me to be elected to, and as I knew my being a mem- 
ber of Council would not prevent my entering into business, 
I agreed to wait until the fall. I had two powerful German 
competitors : Beltzer Gehr, one of them, had for several years 
been a member of the Legislature, and also colonel 6f a 
militia regiment ; the other was the sheriff' of the county, 
P. Kreemer, whose time as sheriff" expired at the election. 
The Germans are generally a very honest, industrious people, 
and if treated with kindness, and you render them any ser- 
vices, no people are more grateful. This I have had many 
instances of. If they find any of their neighbors proud and 
haughty, they will do anything to injure them. There was 
one descendant of a German, Nicholas Rossious, who went to 
school with me when I was a small boy, and with whom I 
had had many severe battles. He was a warm, active, and 
influential man at the election, and used every means in 
his power to serve me. I had also another descendant of a 
German my friend on the ground, Henry Wertz, who had 
sailed with me. He came to the wharf just as I was putting 
off" in the Charming Nancy, and inquired if there were 
0]"anges where we were going. I told him, " Yes ! plenty," 
" AVill you take me ?" " Yes, jump on board." He did so, 
and made the voyage with me. I afterwards found the lad 
had left his father's wagon and horses in town, and gone off 
without his knowledge. He came to me some time after we 
had been at home and begged I would write to his father, and 



192 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 

inform him that he had been to sea with me; for, he said, 
notwithstandino; he carried liim a bao; of orano;es his father 
would not believe he had been at sea, but supposed he had 
remained in Philadelphia. At the time of the election he 
went to the court-house, where the election was held, swore 
he knew Captain Biddle, that he had "been to sea mid him, 
and fought mid him many times." During the time this 
honest fellow was with me we had not a gun on board. 
Several other Germans were active for me at the time of the 
election, which show^s they are not so much devoted to their 
countrymen as has been said. As a sheriif was to be elected, 
and there were several candidates, we had a large election. I 
had more votes than both my competitors. The result was 
not known until l§ite at night, when some of my friends, who 
had been sitting up, came to inform me of it. With ditiiculty 
I persuaded them, particularly Col. Lutz, a very stout man, 
from parading about town with a drum and fife.* 

I was a good deal aifected, a short time before I left Read- 
ing, at the fate of a young man who lived near me, of the 
name of Welsh. He had entered the American army at the 
commencement of the war, and served during the whole of 
it. For the first two or three years, being a boy, he was em- 
ployed as a waiter to Major Scull, a cousin of mine. At the 
peace, he married and settled at Reading, near which town 
he was born. Coming home one evening he overtook a lame 
countrywoman carrying a large bundle. Welsh, who was a 
good tempered fellow, told her he would carry it for her. 
She thanked him, and gave it to him. At this time I be- 
lieve he had no intention of committing a robbery, but find- 
ing there was a handkerchief with nine dollars in the bundle, 

* This election was in October, 1 784, John Dickinson being then Presi- 
dent, and General James Irvine, Vice-President of the Council. By the 
Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, the executive power was vested in a " Su- 
preme Executive Council," consisting of members who were elected (but not 
on a general ticket) by the counties. The members of the Assembly and 
the members of the Council met together once a year, to choose from the 
Councillors, by joint ballot, a President and a Vice-President. This system 
continued until the adoj^tion of the Constitution of 1790. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 198 

just before they entered the town he, unobserved by her, took 
them out, and gave her the bundle. When she got to her 
lodging, she missed the dollars ; and from the description 
she gave of Welsh, he was suspected and taken up. When 
before a magistrate, he immediately acknowledged he had 
taken the money, bnt said he only did it to frighten her, and 
intended to have called and given it to her, and he returned 
every dollar. The magistrate sent him to gaol. At his 
trial, several officers with whom he had served, happened to 
be in Reading, all of whom appeared in court, and gave him 
an exceedingly good character. He had able counsel as- 
signed him, who endeavored to persuade the jury it was only 
a breach of trust. The charge, however, from Chief Justice 
Mclvean, was against him, and the jury brought him in 
guilty, and he was executed. I doubt whether in England 
a man would have suffered death for such an offence, but 
the war was just over, and it was expected that many of the 
soldiers would infest the roads ; otherwise, I believe jioor 
Welsh would not have suffered. To the honor of the Ameri- 
can army, I believe this was the only soldier tried for rob- 
hery. I saw Welsh several times after sentence was passed 
on him. lie was perfectly resigned to his fate. He said the 
day before he overtook the woman, from whom he had taken 
the money, that he had been obliged to sell a sickle to buy a 
fowl for his wife who was sick ; that he was willing to 
work, and did work whenever he could get any to do, but it 
Avas not in his power to maintain a sick wife and himself. I 
asked him why he had not informed me, or some other gen- 
tleman in Reading, of his distress. He replied, that as he 
was a hearty young man, he could not bear the thought of 
begging assistance, that death was less terrible to him. It 
would have given pleasure to many in Reading, besides my- 
self, to have relieved the poor fellow. The morning he died, 
I went to see him, and found he was out of his dungeon. He 
was a very handsome young man, clean, and neatly dressed, 
and ready to proceed. His wife and several of his friends 
were with him, but there was not one in the room but what 
was much more affected than Welsh, who was perfectly com- 
13 



194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

posed, and behaved with great propriety. The minister who 
was to attend him went in with me, and was much 
shocked at seeing that the executioner (a Hessian) had his 
face blacked, and declared he should not go in that condi- 
tion. Welsh told the minister that the man's being blacked 
could not possibly do any injury, and probably would pre- 
vent his being ill-used by some of his comrades, and there- 
fore begged he would let him go as he was. He requested 
to walk to the gallows, which was more tlian a mile from 
the gaol. Being Chief Burgess* of the borough, I attended, 
and rode near the prisoner, wlio marched with great firmness. 
There was an immense crowd,t the people for fifteen or 
twenty miles around having brought their children to see 
the execution, thinking it would have a good effect. I 
should suppose it would rather be an injury to them. The 
hill near the gallows was covered with men, women, and 
children. When we drew near, Welsh looked towards the 
hill, and said to me, "Mr. Biddle, that is a grand sight, but I 
shall soon see a much more glorious one." He continued to 
the last moment to behave with the same firmness. A poor 
M^retch was executed with him, for house-breaking ; but he 
appeared stupid, and said nothing from the time he was 
brought out of the dungeon. 

I left Reading the 20th of October, 1784, for Philadelphia, 
where I had rented and furnished a house. Several of my 
friends rode with me to Pottsgrove. I was now entering 
into a scene of life very different from what I had been ac- 
customed to, or expected. At the time I took my seat, the 
celebrated John Dickinson was President of the Supreme 
Executive Council, and General James Irvine was Vice-Presi- 

* I -was elected Chief Burgess while in Philadelphia, and contrary to my 
wish or expectation. Had Welsh been brought before me, after hearing the 
parties, and giving the woman her money, I should have dismissed him. — 
Authok's note. 

t It was said an old woman walked near seventy miles to see this execu- 
tion. Being fatigued with her walk, a little before the execution she fell 
asleep and did not wake until it was over, when she cried most bitterly. — 
Author's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 195 

dent, both of whom I knew, but had no acquaintance with 
either of them. Mr. Dickinson was an intimate friend of my 
brother James, who gave me letters to him, and he received 
me in a very friendly manner. Gen. Irvine had served with 
my brother Edward, for whose loss he expressed the greatest 
regret. I found Council nearly divided between what were 
then called Republicans and Constitutionalists. From the 
knowledge the Republicans had of my brothers James and 
Edward, they expected I would join their party, but coming 
from the county of Berks, most of the inhabitants of which 
were Constitutionalists, it was expected I would vote with 
them. But I went into Council with a firm resolution not 
to suffer any party views to influence my conduct, and this I 
adhered to. 

The winter after my election there were a number of appli- 
cants for the office of Prothonotary for the county of Dauphin, 
a county just before erected. Among the applicants were 
Col. Atlee and Capt. Graydon. They were the only two who 
had any chance of succeeding ; both had served with reputa- 
tion in the American army, and they both were of the 
Republican party, who just at that time had a majority in 
Council. Capt. Graydon and myself hada dispute just before 
I left Reading, and nothing but the interference of our friends 
prevented our fighting. At the time he came down to make 
his application we did not speak, but he brought me a letter 
from my brother James, who wrote me that I could not 
render him a more acceptable piece of service than assisting 
Capt. Graydon to obtain the office. This letter from a brother 
so dear to me, determined me to use all my interest for Capt. 
Graydon. I introduced him to the President and all the 
members of Council in town, with none of whom was he 
before acquainted. When I introduced him to Mr. Dickin- 
son he desired, when the election should come on, that I 
would remind him of Capt. Graydon. Col. Meason, one of 
the members, mentioned something like it. Both these 
gentlemen were the intimate and warm friends of Col. Atlee, 
who the year before had been with them in Council. A few 
days after this the Republican party, having a majority, 



196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

determined to bring on the election. I was mueli displeased ; 
however they had a majority, and there was no preventing 
them. There were at this time thirteen meml)ers, seven 
Republicans, five Constitutionalists, and myself. The five 
Constitutionalists had promised me they would vote for Capt. 
Graydon ; and in fact I knew they would vote for any one 
set up in opposition to the one proposed by the Republicans. 
"When the election came on Col. Atlee was in the committee 
room, having been brought there by his friends, w^ho enter- 
tained no doubt of his succeeding. The custom then in 
Council was to set up the candidates, one after the other, and 
whoever had the greatest number of votes (if a majority 
of the members present) was the officer. We drew who 
should be first voted for. The ticket was either yes, or a 
blank. It happened Atlee was the first voted for; he had 
seven votes. When Graj^don was voted for I w^ent up to the 
President, and telling him he had requested me to remind 
him of Capt. Graydon, said I must therefore beg he would 
oblige me by putting in a vote for him, and gave him a ticket, 
which I saw him put in the hat. I then w^ent to Col. Meason 
and desired he would do the same, which he did. By this 
means Capt. Graydon had eight votes. The President and 
Meason were almost distracted when they found Graydon 
had a majority. They both thought when they gave us their 
votes for Graydon that it would gratify me and be of no 
injury to Atlee. After musing for some time Mr. Dickinson 
said he did not think any appointment good without the 
approbation of the President. I told him if he did think so, 
he was the only member who did. Before I left Council I 
sent for Graydon, had his sureties approved of, and his com- 
mission made out and signed by the Vice-President. When I 
afterwards saw Col. Atlee he told me he did not blame me 
the least, but said he lamented that a brother of Edward Bid- 
die, whom he loved and esteemed more than any other man 
that ever lived, should have opposed him. But he never 
forgave Mr. Dickinson. Indeed it was unpardonable in him. 
Mr. Dickinson is a very worthy good man, but frequently 
was persuaded to do what he knew he ought not to do. This 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 197 

affair was reported at the time much against Mr. Dickinson ; 
it was said I forced him to vote for Graydon, but it happened 
just as I have related it.* 

In October, 1785, the time of the President, Mr. Dickin- 
son, and the Vice-President, General Irvine, expired. It 
was, therefore, necessary an election should be held among 
the members of Council to chose a Vice-President until the 
meeting of the Legislature. I was unanimously elected,t 
and thus, for a short time, was the Chief Magistrate of Penn- 
sylvania. It is not from vanity that this is mentioned, but 
as an uncommon circumstance that a man brought up to the 
sea, and who, from the misfortune of his father, was left 

* Of this election, Graydon himself gives the following account:— 
"In the year 1785, I had the good fortune, through the warm exertions 
of an inrtuential friend, to obtain an appointment to the prothonotaryship of 
the Dauphin County Court. By a combination of circumstances working 
together to my advantage, I obtained, contrary to expectation, the suffrage 
of the Supreme Executive Council, of which Mr. Dickinson was then Presi- 
dent. The Republican party possessed a majority in the Council, and 
Colonel Atlee, who belonged to it, was designated for the office. He was 
conspicuous as a party man, and, if I mistake not, at the time a member of 
the Legislature ; and on the score of services and character no one had better 
claims." . . . . . •. " To keep out Atlee, the Constitutionalists were 
disposed to give their votes to any one of his competitors. Of course, I had 
all their strength ; and by adding to it two or three Republican votes, I ac- 
quired a greater nuniber than any in nomination. As the mode was to vote 
for the candidates individually, there was no physical, or perhaps, moral im- 
pediment, to each of them receiving the vote of every member. A promise 
to one was not broken by also voting for another, unless it was exclusively 
made. The President had, probably, given a promise to Colonel Atlee, as 
well as myself; and considering me, perhaps, as too weak to endanger his 
success, thought he might safely gratify my friend, who pinned him' to the 
vote, which, on coming to the box, he seemed half inclined to withhold." 
• • • • "Mr. Dickinson, for his want of decision, as it was called, was 
bitterly inveighed against by his party ; and the next day at the coffee-house 
when receiving the congratulations of some of my acquaintances, Mr. Michael 
Morgan O'Brien, who chanced to be present, and to whom I was then in- 
troduced, asserted it as a fact, that the President had suffered his hand to be 
seized and crammed into the box with a ticket for me ; ' but no matter' 
said he, "you are a clever fellow I am told, and I am glad that you have 
got the office.' " — Graydon, page 309. 
t October 10, 1785. 



198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

without a fortune, should so early in life be raised to such a 
station. 

In September, this year. Dr. Franklin arrived from France. 
He was received with great joy by his fellow citizens. All 
the officers of government, and the different societies in the 
city, waited upon him, and congratulated him upon his arri- 
val. In October he was elected a member of the Executive 
Council for the city. A few days after the election, October 
17, 1785, 1 waited on him, and went with him to the meet- 
ing of Council at the State House. Thinking there was an 
impropriety in my sitting as President of the Board when 
the Doctor was a member, I proposed, at the meeting next 
before the one when he came to the Board, to elect him 
President, which was agreed to, and he was accordingly 
chosen. 

The Doctor, being at this time very much troubled with 
the stone, seldom attended Council ; nothing, however, of 
any consequence was done at the Board without consulting 
him ; and I called on him almost every day to see if he had 
anything to propose. 

When the election for President and Vice-President came 
on in tlie Legislature, some of the leading members of the 
Republican party, not having found me their thorough-paced 
devotee, had a meeting for the purpose of preventing my 
being re-elected, but finding themselves too weak, declined 
the attempt. Dr. Franklin was elected President, and I was 
elected Vice-President, almost unanimously.* I believe 
there were only two votes but what were for me, and but 
one that was not for the Doctor. My friend, General Mifflin, 
who was then Speaker of the Plouse, and who counted the 
votes, was much mortified when he found the election was 
not unanimous, particularly on account of Dr. Franklin. 
He was rising to say something on the subject, but sitting 
near him, and judging his intention, I stopped him. I 
walked with the Doctor to the old Court House, where we 
were proclaimed ; from thence we went back to the State 

* October 29, 1785. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 199 

House, where we had to wait until the members of the 
Council, and the House of Representatives congratulated us 
upon our election. It was a severe business for the Doctor, 
who told me that day the stone gave him uncommon pain. 
He, however, was very cheerful, and, in fact, I hardly ever 
knew him otherwise. The streets were much crowded from 
many people in the city having never seen the Doctor. As 
we passed the door where Baron Steuben stood, he pulled 
off his hat, which the Doctor thought was very improper to 
a person walking in a procession. I believe the remark was 
occasioned by his feeling some pain in taking his arm from 
mine to pull off his hat. He was very much rejoiced when 
he reached his own house. 

In the spring of 1786 a young woman was condemned at 
Chester for the murder of her bastard children. Her name 
was Elizabeth Wilson, and she was of a respectable family in 
Chester County. Her brother, William Wilson, came 'with 
a petition to Council for a respite. He was a sensible young- 
man, and of a very good character. He declared, when he 
handed me the petition, that he would not have interested 
himself for her, if he thought her guilty of the murder ; that 
when she was first condemned he believed she was, and there- 
fore Avould not go near her ; but he was now convinced she 
was innocent, and he had no doubt but that the story she told 

him was true. She said one D , Sheriff of Sussex County, 

;N"ew Jersey, visited her when she lived in Philadelphia, that 
under a promise of marriage he seduced her, and was the 
father of the twins for the murder of whom she was con- 
demned ; that when the children were six weeks old he came 
to see her at the house she boarded at in Chester County, per- 
suaded her to take a walk with him, saying he intended to put 
the children out to nurse ; that when they got into the woods, 
lie took them from her and laying them on the ground, the in- 
Imman monster put his feet on their breasts, and crushed 
them to death. He then threatened to murder her if ever 
she mentioned a word about what he had done, bid her go 
home, and tell the people she lodged with that he had taken 
the children to Jersey to nurse, which the dread she was 



200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

under of his murdering her, made her comply with ; that she 
would, at the expense of her life, have endeavored to save the 
children, but that she had no suspicion of his diabolical in- 
tention until it was too late to save them. The bodies of the 
children were found a few days afterwards by some dogs, 
which led to the discovery of the murder. Council immedi- 
ately upon the petition being read, agreed to a respite for 
thirty days, and young Wilson set off the same day for Jersey. 
He there found the Sheriff, who declared he never knew his 
sister, and said he had not been in Philadelphia for two years. 
Wilson after making some inquiries, rode back to his sister, 
and getting further information from her, went again into 

Jersey. He found a person who coufld prove D had been in 

Philadelphia and lodged in the house with her, and was in 
expectation of obtaining further proof against him, when he 
was taken sick in Jersey. Finding the time draw near, sick 
as he was, he set off for home in order to get a further respite. 
It was late in the morning when he reached Chester, when to 
his great surprise he was told that the time granted her was 
out that day (he thought it was not until the next) and that the 
Sheriff was preparing for her execution. He was very unwell, 
having suffered much both in body and mind ; he, however, 
galloped to Philadelphia as fast as it was possible, and unfor- 
tunately went to the President's where, notwithstanding all 
his entreaties, it was some time before he could get to see him, 
and when he did, he staid endeavoring to persuade the Doctor 
to give him a line to the Sheriff, which the Doctor, thinking 
it improper, refused, and directed him to me, I was just 
leaving the Council chamber when he came, all the members 
but myself having gone. I immediately wrote, " Do not ex- 
ecute Wilson until you hear further from Council," and di- 
rected it to the Sheriff. I well knew the Board intended to 
grant a further respite, but had it been a doubt with me, I 
should have written to defer the execution, for putting it off 
a day could be of no consequence. Wilson setoff the instant 
I gave him the paper, carrying it in his hand. He rode down 
in an hour and a quarter, a distance of fifteen miles, and the 
road at that time excessively bad. His sister had been turned 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 201 

off about ten minutes. What a dreadful sight for an affec- 
tionate brother! They imnaediately cut her down, but 
although every means were used they could not restore her 
to life. She persisted in the same storj' to the last moment 
of her life, which she resigned with great fortitude, being 
perfectly calm and composed. The only thing she seemed to 
regret was the trouble she had given her poor, sick brother, 
and the pain he must suffer on her account. Just before the 
cart drove away she looked attentively towards Philadelphia 
to see if her brother was in sight. For my own part, I firmly 
believed her innocent, for to me it appeared highl}^ improb- 
able that a mother, after suckling her children for six weeks, 
could murder them. The next day when Council met, and 
we heard of the execution, it gave uneasiness to many of the 
members, all of whom were against her being executed, at 
least until her brother had had full time to make his inquiries, 
and I am sure, if he had not been successful, there was a large 
majority would have been for pardoning her. It is strange, 
considering the chances this unfortunate girl had, that her 
life was not saved. It was extraordinary that none of the 
members of Council, the Secretary, nor his deputy, should 
have recollected that the time granted was expired ; that her- 
self, the clergyman who attended her, nor none of her family 
or fi'iends, should have applied before, or that the Sheriff, 
who was a very 'good man, should not have called or sent to 
Council before he executed her, and lastly that her brother, 
who knew Council were sitting at the State House, should 
pass them, and go to the President. Had he stopped at the 
State House, she would have been saved. He supposed, if 
he stopped at Council, there would be some time taken up in 
debate, and that the President would immediately have given 
him a letter to the Sheriff. I understood afterwards that 
he soon followed his sister to her g-rave.* 

o 

* A full detail of the unhappy event will be found in a tract entitled, " A 
Faithful Narrative of Elizabeth Wilson, who was executed at Cliester, 
January 3, 1 786, charged with the murder of her twin infants. Philadel- 
phia: Printed for the purchaser, 1807." 8vo. pp. 23. A rude wood-cut 
of the final scene ornaments the title page ; a troop of light horse surrounds 



202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Perhaps the punishment of death is too great for an un- 
married woman who destroys her child. They are generally 
led to it from a fear of being exposed. It is, to be sure, a 
shocking crime. If confinement for life, or for a term of 
years, at the discretion of the court, was the punishment, 
more would be convicted, and it would tend to put a stop to 
the crime. "While death is the punishment, a jury will sel- 
dom find a verdict against them. If death is the punishment 
of the mother, what punishment is too severe for the villain 
who seduces, and afterwards abandons the wretched mother. 

I never was present but at one trial for this crime. It was 
at Reading. The daughter of a wealthy farmer was tried for 
the murder of her child. My brother James was employed 
as her counsel. It appeared perfectly clear from the evidence, 
that she hove the child into the Schuylkill soon after it was 
born ; but there was one circumstance which had great in- 
fluence with, the jury, and made them doubt the evidence 
that was given against her. It was, that when the constable 
broke open her trunk, after she was confined, he found a 
quantity of ready made clothes for an infant. This induced 
the jury to believe she did not destroy her child, or made 
them doubt it, and they acquitted her. 

Council were nearly equal at this time, with respect to par- 
ties. The Republican members were : Messrs. JSTeville, Hill, 
Muhlenberg, Ross, Willing, Boyd, and Elliott. The Consti- 
tutionalists were: Messrs. McLene, "Whitehill, Smilie, Find- 
ley, Watts, Smith, Dean, Hoge, and Martin. The distinction 
was, that the Republicans wanted an alteration in the Consti- 
tution. They wished to have a House of Representatives 

the gibbet ; and hard by is an open coffin and the corpse of her cliikh-en. 
The wretch for whose crimes she suffered called himself Josepli Deshong, 
and first met her at the Cross- Keys tavern, in Chesnut Street, Philadelphia, 
where she then lodged. The murder was committed in East Bradford Town- 
ship, Chester County. Her trial came off on the 17th October, 1785, before 
Judge Atlee ; the respite did not reach the ground till twenty-three minutes 
after she was turned off. There is no doubt that the poor girl was innocent. 
A copy of this rare pamphlet was in the possession of the late Mr. Winthrop 
Sargent. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 203 

and a Senate. The other party thought no alteration neces- 
sary. My brother Edward, when living, was at the head of 
the Republican party. Much could be said on both sides. 
If a single branch sometimes does wrong, they are (where 
there are two branches) often retarded in their business, and 
sometimes prevented from doing right. I believe, however, 
that, upon the whole, it is better to have two branches. 

We had frequent and violent disputes between these mem- 
bers upon political subjects, but they were of little conse- 
quence then, and can be of none now. The best informed 
man of either party, and the readiest at business, was Mr. 
Hoge, but he was so diffident a man, that if we had a full 
Ccmncil, he could never rise to make a motion, or even to 
second one. He was a worthy, valuable man. McLene, 
Whitehill, Smilie, and Findley are all sensible men; they 
would not be the least embarrassed in speaking before any 
assembly whatever. Smilie and Findley are natives of -Ire- 
land, the former was. brought up a house carpenter ; the lat- 
ter a weaver. They are both men of talents, and if they had 
received a good education would have made .a figure in any 
legislative body. McLene and Whitehill are Pennsylvanians. 
These four had been leading members of the State Legislature. 
They are all now, May, 1803, living. Whitehill is one of 
the Associate Judges for Lancaster County. He, as well as 
Smilie and Findfey, were elected to Congress. McLene has 
retired from public business. 

When I first took my seat in Council, not having been 
acquainted with any people from the Western country, I 
thought from their conversation that McLene, Boyd, Smith, 
and Whitehill were Irishmen. It was some time after I 
had been in Council, that I found they were not. Talking 
one day with Smith (who had as much of the brogue and 
look of an Irishman, as any one that ever came from Tippe- 
rary) about being at sea, he told me he never was at sea in 
his life. "And how, my honey," says Dean, who was sitting 
by me, and who also thought him from Ireland, "did you 
get to Philadelphia?" "Why I rode here." " And, arrah, 
honey ! did you ride here all the way from Ireland ? I never 



204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

heard of a bridge between the two countries." "Devil a bit 
of me," says Smith, "was ever out of Pennsylvania." And 
this I found was true, and that McLean, Whitehall, and 
Boyd were all born in Pennsylvania. People who live in an 
Irish settlement, or who are much with the Irish, generally 
affect the brogue. When I sailed from Philadelphia, in the 
ship Lark, my second mate and most of the crew were Irish- 
men ; on my return, I had as much of it as any of the crew. 
Landing at Newcastle, while dining with several gentlemen 
from Philadelphia, one of them asked me if I was not born in 
Philadelphia. Upon my answering in the affirmative, a man 
who was sitting in a corner of the room, started up and ex- 
claimed in a great rage, " By J -^ I hate a fellow that de- 
nies his country." I felt angrj'- at first, but looking at the 
man, and seeing he was old and feeble, I was disarmed of all 
resentment, and could not refrain from laughing heartily, in 
which I was joined by all the company, except the old man, 
who was much displeased with our mirth. He looked at me 
with rage and contempt. However, I soon pleased him by 
speaking favorably of the Irish, and drinking prosperity to 
Ireland, we became good friends. 

John Boyd, one of our Senators, commanded a company 
on the frontiers, and was an excellent partisan officer. During 
the war he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Indians. 
Having killed a number of them before he was taken, they 
were determined to burn him. For this purpose he was 
stripped naked and tied to a stake, and expected every 
moment to suffer death, when he was released by the inter- 
cession of one of the squaws who had had her husband killed 
in the engagement with Boyd. His life was probably saved 
in consequence of his being a stout, well-made man. 

Dean was from Bucks County. It was said he obtained a 
seat in Council by telling some of the men who make them- 
selves busy at elections, that he would get them appointed 
officers.* He had been an officer, and a braver never went 

* A gentleman ■who was unpopular in Berks County, got into the Legis- 
lature by laying boots, hats, and clothes, with some of the leading men at 
the election, that he would not be elected. — Author's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 205 

into a field of battle. He is a man of a great deal of humor, 
and has many good qualities, but is too fond of taverns and 
keeping improper company. While in Council he had a dis- 
pute with a Dr. Linn, who said Dean had promised him his 
vote for some oiRce, and afterwards voted against him. This 
by an ofiicious friend was told Dean, who swore he would 
get a cowskin and whip him until he drove all the molasses* 
he had in him out. The Doctor hearing of this, challenged 
Dean. The first notice I had of the aftair was Dean's calling 
on me for my pistols. Upon hearing what the dispute was 
about, I told him it was a foolish thing to fight about, and it 
should be made up. He told me it was in vain to preach to 
him, for fight him he would. They accordingly went into Jer- 
sey in the morning. By agreement they were to stand at the 
distance of ten paces from each other, and fire at the word of 
command, " make ready, present, fire." This they did the 
first time at the same instant, without eftect. The second 
time, at the word "present," the Doctor fired. The ball 
would have killed Dean, having struck him on the groin, if 
it had not been that he had on a pair of leather breeches, 
with a thick band. It just penetrated the band, and made a 
black mark in his groin. Dean supposed himself to be mor- 
tally w^ounded, and although naturally cool as brave, being 
extremely exasperated, he fired, and then threw his pistol at 
the Doctor, both ^vhich missing, he went up, and before the 
seconds could prevent him, knocked the Doctor down w^ith 
his fist. Captain Symonds, the friend of the Doctor, declared 
he had behaved shamefully, and refused to cross the river in 
the boat with him. I believe, how^ever, what the Doctor 
said was true, that the pistol went oft' by accident. He 
acknowledged Dean had never made him any promise. 

About this time an Indian of the name of Mamachtaguin 
was tried, condemned, and executed for the murder of John 
Smith and Benjamin Jones. This poor fellow could not be 
persuaded to plead not guilty. Notwithstanding all his 
counsel could say, he persisted in declaring he had killed the 

* The Doctor was a native of New England. — Authou's notk. 



206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

men, that it was mm made him do it. I believe the Indians 
who do not associate with the whites seldom or never tell 
an untruth. A short time before the execution of this Indian 
a wretch of the name of John McDonald was executed. It 
appeared that he was left to take care of the house of one 
Krayman, a farmer of Bucks County. The evening Ivray- 
man left home, the villain got into the chamber of Mrs. 
Krayman, and attempted to get into her bed. Finding she 
resisted him the inhuman monster murdered her with a 
hatchet he had taken upstairs with him. He then killed her 
infant son, set fire to the house, and made off. Upon appli- 
cation to Council a proclamation was issued, offering a reward 
for apprehending him. He was a remarkable man, being not 
more than five feet four inches high, and very stoutly made. 
A few days after the proclamation was out, going down 
Market Street, I saw a man sitting upon one of the stalls 
who appeared to answer exactly the description given of 
McDonald. I immediately went up to him, and putting some 
questions to him, I had no doubt in my own mind, but that 
he was the man who had committed the murder. I obliged 
him to stay at a friend's house until I sent for the description 
given of McDonald by the unfortunate husband. He answered 
the description as to size, age, country, and in every other 
particular, except his hair, which was of a different color. 
The fellow was so much confused when examined, and so 
rejoiced at getting clear, that I strongly suspected he too had 
been guilty of some crime, for which he was afraid he should 
be confined. The real McDonald died game, as it is called by 
such wretches, that is, like a hardened villain. A gentleman 
present when he was led pinioned and put in the cart for exe- 
cution, observed he believed he had seen him before, wheeling 
oysters about the streets of Philadelphia. " Yes," says he, 
" you may have seen me before, wheeling oysters, and if you 
will wait until Jack Ketch has done with me, I'll turn round, 
that you may see me behind and know me better at our next 
meeting." 

For many years there had been disputes between the States 
of Pennsylvania and Connecticut respecting their boundaries, 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 207 

and a good many people lost their lives in consequence of those 
disputes. Commissioners were appointed by Congress in 
pursuance of an Article of the Confederation, who sat at Tren- 
ton, in 1782, and after a long hearing gave a decree in favor of 
Pennsylvania. In order to give the citizens of Pennsylvania 
quiet possession of their lands, the Legislature passed an act 
for raising two companies of infantry. The command of 
these men was given to Col. James Moore. Shortly before 
the time for which they were enlisted expired, they marched 
a number of the Connecticut families (said by Col. Moore to 
be very turbulent) out of the settlement, and a few were sent 
to Easton gaol.* These people complained of being treated 
with great barbarity. Fvom my knowledge of Col. Moore I 
do not believe he would have suffered them to be treated with 
cruelty. When the troops were disbanded, the Connecticut 
people returned to their former habitations, and fresh dis- 
turbances soon ensued. Upon complaint being made to' the 
Executive Council, some militia were ordered out from Berks 
and i^Torthampton. Gen. John Armstrong,t the Secretary to 
Council, was appointed to command them. After remainino- 
some time in the county, finding the settlers fled as he advanced, 
and that he could not bring them to action, he entered into' a 
treaty with them and they delivered, up their arms. 

In September, 1786, a new county was erected called 
Luzerne, in whidi county most of the lands in dispute lay. 
Colonel Pickering, since Secretary of State, applied to be 
Prothonotary of the county, and was appointed. It was 
expected, as he was a native of New England, and a man of 
great respectability, that he would be able to keep the settle- 
ment quiet, and that those who held under Pennsylvania 
would have peaceable possession of their lands ; this, how- 
ever, Avas not the case. The Connecticut people drove ofl:" 
the commissioner sent by the Executive of the State to 

* At the trial of one of these people at Easton, he said he was in a tavern 
at Wilkes-Barre, when Capt. Ball, who commanded one of the companies 
under Moore, came in and called out, "Where is that damned rascal, S. 
Y ?" "And I immediately answered and said, here am I." — Author's 

NOTE. 

t Afterwards Secretary of War under President Madison. 



208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

endeavor to settle their disputes, and soon after obliged him 
to leave the settlement, treating him with every mark of 
indignity. About this time John Franklin, who was con- 
sidered the principal leader in all these disturbances, wrote 
to Council that if he could appear before the Board in safety, 
he would come down and state the injustice that was done 
to the Connecticut settlers by the commissioner and others 
sent amongst them. Council were surprised at receiving 
this letter ; however, it was immediately agreed he should 
have a pass to come down and be heard. One was accord- 
ingly sent him, and in a few days he came to town. He 
took up his lodgings opposite the State House, and sent word 
he was in town, and wished to know when he should wait 
upon Council. He was immediately informed the Board 
were ready to hear him. He soon appeared. He was a very 
stout man, then in the prime of life, being about forty-five 
years of age (he is now, 1804, a member of the Legislature 
for Luzerne), and had the look of a soldier. ,He was accom- 
panied by John Jenkins, another leading man among the 
Connecticut settlers. He said he had come down to answer 
any charges that could be made against the Connecticut 
settlers, and expected he could convince the Board they had 
been treated with injustice and cruelty. As Dr. Franklin 
was not present, I told him he had requested a pass to come 
and inform the Board of their reasons for being dissatisfied 
with the treatment they had received from the Pennsylva- 
nians; that we would now hear him, and, if they had any 
real complaints, endeavor to redress them. He said he 
expected first to hear the complaints against them ; however, 
he was ready to state theirs. He took up the business from 
the Decree of Trenton, and gave a particular account of 
every material transaction that happened in the settlement 
from that time. He said Colonel Moore and his troops had 
behaved exceedingly ill to the Connecticut claimants, but 
General Armstrong* had behaved much worse, that finding 

* Gen. Armstrong, as Secretary, was present during the time Frankhn 
was speaking. It w^as with some diffleulty I coukl prevent him from inter- 
rupting him. He told me afterward there was some truth in what he had 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 209 

he could do nothing with the militia he had with" him he 
offered the settlers, that if they would deliver up their arms 
they should all be suffered to return to their homes, and not 
be molested in any way whatever, and should have a fair 
and candid hearing, and if they had any real cause of com- 
plaint, they should be redressed; that being extremely 
anxious to return home, and live quiet and peaceable with 
their families, they agreed, and did surrender their arms 
Immediately after they had delivered up their arms they were 
ordered into an old barn where there was no floor, and 
although It was covered with mud and tilth, they were 
obliged to he down in it, and the sentinels had orders to fire 
on any one that attempted to raise his head. Some of those 
coniined m this manner were old men, one of them upwards 
of seventy years of age. A number of them were after- 
wards marched to Easton gaol. He related many othei; cir- 
cumstances of ill treatment they had received. Council 
informed him they would take the matter into consideration 
and desired him and Jenkins to retire. Franklin, findina' 
little encouragement, soon left the city. He was afterwards 
a very active man against the Pennsylvania landholders. 

In this year there were two men executed in Franklin 
County, and although there were never any that deserved the 
gallows more than these men, there were petitions signed by 
most of the i)eopIe in the county for a pardon. One of them 
was an old man, Josiah Ramage. He had been married to 
the woman he murdered seven and thirty years. Upon some 
dispute with her, he beat her in a shocking manner, hove 

said but he l>ad mentioned several things that were false. Armstronjr 
,7us on of H "''"'"» "T "'^""'^ '° *'" «^«^^^ ^"^ -Idiers at the con 
noT Kl , ! "'r " '^'"^'"^ '"' "^^^^^^ '^'''' ^« h^d written, which were 
not pubhshed. Armstrong has very superior talents, but they are almost 
useless, he js so extremely indolent. Smilie, speakin. in the House o" 
Representatives of his expedition into Luzerne, compared him to Verres 
The next morning, when I went to the State House, I found Armstrong 
walkmg before the door of the room in which the Representatives sat. In! 
qumng what he was doing there, he told me he was waiting to see Smil 
I presuaded h„n away, and afterwards had the afikir made up. He by no 
means deserved a comparison with Verres.-AuTHOR's note 
14 



210 AUTOUIOGRAPHY OF 

her on the floor, and while she lay there senseless, he got 
upon a table, and jumped upon her breast, which put a period 
to her life. The other, John Ilanna, was a young man who 
had been from Ireland six months. He was beating a boy 
about thirteen years of age, when the father of the boy came 
up, took him away, and gave Hanna a kick. Hanna went 
to the place where he had been working, got an iron bar 
with which he had been at work, and while the father of the 
boy was standing at his own door, he came behind him 
and struck him on the head with the bar, which instantly 
killed him. Soon after their condemnation, it was debated 
at the Board whether a warrant should issue for their exe- 
(;ution. Dr. Franklin not being in Councii, the question was 
put by me. There were then eight members present; of 
these. Gen. Muhlenberg and ]Mr. George Ross, of Lancaster, 
would never vote for the execution of any criminal. Two 
other members joined them, so that it remained with me to 
say whether they should be executed or not. Thmkmg it 
would be an act of injustice to let such wretches loose upon 
society, I should have voted without hesitation for their exe- 
cution,'but a motion for postponement was made and carried. 
A warrant soon after issued for their execution. An 
acquaintance of mine told me some time afterwards, that he 
had them buried in his orchard ; that before this he had his 
orchard frequently robbed, but no robbery was committed 
after he had these sentinels. 

It is an easv matter to get a petition signed for a pardon, 
or an office. Many people do not like to refuse, and will put 
their names to a petition, although they know it is improper. 
A sheriff of my acquaintance, who was frequently called on 
to sign a recommendation to the Governor, by people who 
had served him at his election, and whom he could not refuse, 
waited on the Governor, and told him the circumstance, beg- 
ging he would pay no regard to any recommendation he 
should sign ; that if he wished to promote the interest of any 
of those he recommended, he would write a personal applica- 
tion I called once on a friend of mine, who signed a petition 
to Council in favor of a person of bad character, who wanted 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 211 

to be a notary public, and asked him how he could put his 
name to a petition in favor of such a rascal. Laughing he 
declared he had signed it in such a manner that he thought 
no person could have supposed it to be him who had signed it. 
At this time there was an application from mj okf friend 
and schoolmate, Mr. Mathias Aspden, who had gone off with 
the British, for a pardon. It gave me great pleasure to have 
an opportunity of serving this worthy man. I sent him a 
pardon, January 19, 1786, and he soon came to Philadelphia. 
Alter he had been here a short time, he called on a o-entle- 
nian of the law to know if, by the treaty of peace, he was 
secure from arrest. The gentleman not knowing, and Mr 
Aspden not telling him, that he had a pardon from the Execu- 
tive Council, told him that he did not think he was. As 
soon as he got this opinion, without seeing any of his friends 
he immediately set off for New York, and embarked on 
board a packet, then ready to sail for England, where he now 
IS, 1804. As he had ever been my friend, I was much con- 
cerned at his unfortunate situation. Just after the peace he 
had written me an affectionate letter, inquiring how the war 
\md left me, and offering his services, and sent me a coffee- 
pot to keep m remembrance of him. He lives very retired 
111 London. 

I had at this time an opportunity of serving another of my 
old friends, Mr. P. Bond. Mrs. Bond, his mother, applied 
to me to present a petition to Council, to obtain a pardon for 
her son. Some intimate friends of the family were then in 
Council, but they did not choose to interfere, as it was then 
thought unpopular. As that was never a consideration with 
ine_ when my friends wanted my services, I presented the 
petition, and the pardon was immediately granted and sent to 
liim. boon after Mr. Bond came out as British Consul 
_ At the election in October, 1786, the Republican party be- 
mg strengthened, fresh opposition to my being elected Vice- 
Bresident was encouraged by most of them, and much pains 
and caballing exerted to carry their point. But a few of the 
most independent, considering it as a most umvarrantable 
attack, and the Constitutional party, although I had remained 



212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

as unconnected with the one as the other, generously giving 
their suffrages in my support, the design failed. The Repub- 
licans had agreed upon Gen. Muhlenberg as their candidate, 
expecting, a^ he was descended from a German family, he 
would have the votes of all the Germans in the House. In 
this however, they were mistaken. I believe there was not 
a German in either Council or House of Representatives that 
did not vote for me. The evening before the election, the Con- 
stitutionalists had a meeting, and agreed to have their tickets 
printed, and a sprig of laurel on them. By this means I 
found that several of the Republican party, who declared 
they had voted for me, could not have done so. One member 
from Berks County was particularly anxious that I should 
believe he voted for me, and called on me to assure me that 
he had. As I appeared to doubt it, and told him it was ot 
no consequence whether he had or not, he asked me if I did 
not suppose he had. I told him there were but lew ot the 
Republicans who did vote for me, and my opinion was that 
he had not. And this was the opinion in Berks, lor he never 
was ao-ain elected. He never was popular in the county, and 
obtained a seat in the Legislature by betting with some ol 
the most active men that busy themselves at election that he 
would not be in the Assembly. Having a dispute with the 
same person when I was put up in the county for Councillor, 
he declared to my brother James that he was as much my 
friend as any man in the county, and would do anything m 
his power to serve me. I desired my brother never to men- 
tion it to any other person, for if it was known that C 

was my friend, it would injure me with the good people ol 

Berks. i i t? k 

One of the principal complaints against me by the Repub- 
lican party was procuring the appointment of Mr. Tench 
Coxe as one of the commercial commissioners, and much was 
said against his political conduct, but he was chosen by the 
merchants of the city one of their committee, as he was 
known to be well qualified for this business. The fact was 
he had offended the directors of the Bank of North America 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 218 

(then the onlj^ bank on the continent), and they and their 
friends made a .2:reat clamor against him.* 

The 17th of March, 1787, I'^dined at the City Tavern with 
the " Friendly Sons of St. Patrick." Returning home in the 
evening, I stepped into a hole and sprained my ankle so badly 
that for several days I could not go out of the house, and 
when I did, was obliged to use crutches. A Good Friday, in 
coming from Council, I was stopped on the State House steps 
by some person who had business at the Board of Property, 
where I was then going. Turning from him, in a hurry to 
be gone, I put my crutch on the edge of the step, when it 
slipped oiF, and I fell with great violence. My right leg was 
drawn up so that the first part that struck the pavement was 
my knee, the pan of which was split, and the leg much 
injured. I was carried immediately over to Kapal's, a small 
tavern opposite the State House, and surgeons sent for. .My 
own opinion was, that it would be necessary to amputate my 
leg. I was therefore very anxious to get home. I had Dr. 
Franklin's sedan chair brought, and was placed in it before 
any surgeon came. This was the most uneasy way I could 
have been carried home, for I was obliged to let my leg hang 
down, by which means, during the whole of the way (which 
was upwards of a mile, as I then lived in the iNTorthern 
Liberties) I suffered the most excruciating pain. I should 
have suffered much less had I been carried by persons used 
to a sedan chair, but the men who attended Dr. Franklin 
not being present, my friends were obliged to get some invalid 
soldiers who then did duty at the State House. Their lame- 
ness made these poor fellows give me more pain than they 

* Mr. Tench Coxe, the great-grandson of Dr. Daniel Coxe, of London 
(the proprietor of the Government of West Jersey), was the first and ablest 
politico-economical writer of this country. He was a member of the An- 
napolis Federal Convention, which led to the formation of our present Con- 
stitution, a member of the Continental Congress, and Assistant Secretary 
of the Treasury under Alexander Hamilton. The prodigious expansion of 
the cotton culture in this country is more due to the early and persistent 
exertions of Mr. Coxe than to those of any other man in America. See 
Simpson's Eminent Philadelphians. 



214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

otherwise would have done. I should have been carried 
home on a sofa, or in a cot. I sent one of my friends home 
to prepare Mrs. Biddle for my reception. Drs. Kuhn, Jones, 
and Hutchinson soon attended. The latter was the family 
physician, and to his skill and care I impute my recovery 
without the loss of my leg. My small clothes were cut off, 
and I was informed by the surgeons that I must keep my leg 
perfectly still, otherwise I should never have the use of it, as 
the least motion would prevent the pan from knitting. 
Although I had enough to make me feel uneasy at my situa- 
tion, having a large family dependent on my exertions, yet 
as I always considered it a duty to submit with fortitude to 
everything^ unavoidable, I sustained the accident without re- 
pining, and never suffered myself to be depressed by it. 

The day after the accident I wrote a letter to Council re- 
signing my office of Vice-President, and sent it to one of the 
members. He would not deliver it, but called upon me and 
begged I would not think of resigning, as the members would 
with pleasure call on me when anything particular was to be 
done. If he had not mentioned this I should have resigned. 
It would have been extremely disagreeable to me to have 
held any appointment the duties of which I could not perform. 

About a week after the accident, one of my seafaring 
acquaintances called on me a good deal intoxicated. I lay 
down stairs and it happened there was no person in the room 
when he entered. He came staggering up to the bedside, 
telling me he was very sorry for me, but, says he, " Messmate, 
you must not mind it ; and as your leg must be cut off 
sooner or later, why let them chop it off' at once." I was 
under great apprehension he would have fallen on mj' leg. 
As I could not stir, and had nothing within my reach to keep 
him off, I was thrown into a profuse sweat. Fortunately a 
servant soon came in and took him out. I should not have 
regarded what this man said about chojijiivg off my leg^ but I 
supposed he had heard the surgeons mention that it would be 
necessary. The next day when Dr. Jones attended, I requested 
he would candidly inform me whether he thought there 
would be a necessity of amputating my leg. He told me 



CHARLES BIDDLB. 215 

nothing of that kind was to be apprehended. Dr. Hutchin- 
son coming in soon after, I put the same question to him and 
received the same answer. This greatly relieved me, for as 
my leg was uncommonly swelled, I thought it probable I 
should lose it. I then inquired of fhe doctors what would 
be the quickest method to bring a perspiration on one in my 
situation. After they had mentioned what they thought 
would be the soonest, I informed them of the visit from Mr. 

, his behavior, and the effect it had on me. They 

laughed, and acknowledged that was a way they had never 
thought of. 

As Dr. Franklin was unwell the Executiv^e Council attended 
at my house, and, as I could write, the business of the 
Council went on as usual. I lay for three weeks without 
moving my leg from the position it was placed in, and 
nothing but the declaration of the doctors, that it was 
absolutely necessary I should be moved, and their rousing 
me by inquiring if I was afraid to move, induced me to 
consent to it. A bed and bedstead were put at the end of 
the one I was in, and they shoved me gently from one bed 
to the other. Although it gave me little or no pain, the 
being stirred after lying so long in one position was extremely 
disagreeable. When I was so far recovered as to sit up, and 
it was ascertained 1 should have the use of my leg, among 
others I had thfe honor of a visit from Mr. Gardoqui, the 
Spanish Charge d'Atfaires, who told me, " If your consti- 
tution was not a very good one, and, let me add, your dis- 
position also, you Avould never have recovered the use of 
your leg." I believe he was right so far as regarded my 
constitution, whatever he may have been as to my disposi- 
tion. The evening of the day the accident happened they 
gave me laudanum, which was the first I had ever taken. 
Instead of composing it made me very restless. I refused 
to take any afterwards. 

The nineteenth of May, this year, an application was made' 
by Mr. Otto, Charge d'Atfaires for France, for delivering 
up de Brassines, charged with malversation in his office. He 
was delivered up to be sent to France. 



216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

It was the 31st of May before I left my house to attend 
Council, nor should then have done it, but that there was 
some business to come before the Board relating to a ship 
belonging to Messrs. Thomas & John Clifford and Mr. Richard 
"Wells, seized for smuggling, and Dr. Franklin wished me to 
be present. It was said by the owners that the goods 
smuggled were the property of the officers of the ship, and 
taken on shore entirely unknown to them. This was pro- 
bably the case ; she was, however, condemned and sold. 
The comptroller, Nicholson, and the collector, Dr. Phile, 
gave offence to many of the citizens by putting on board 
the ship a guard of Invalids, instead of employing the civil 
officers. These old soldiers, being accustomed to an implicit 
obedience to their officers, and being told they must not let 
any one come on board, threatened to drive their bayonets 
into the captain and owners if they attempted to come on 
board. It was in vain their telling them they only wanted 
to go into the cabin where one of them could go with them.* 
The guard was removed by Council. It was at the request 
of Dr. Franklin that I attended, and he was in Council 
himself. I went in a carriage into which they were obliged 
to lift me, and to walk the horses. I had in the carriage 
with me Captain William Craig, brother to my late unfortu- 
nate friend, Charles Craig. He was a very stout young man, 
and could carry me with ease in his arms. Poor William 
soon after fell a sacrifice to his intemperance. He was the 
person who sat up with me the first night after I had broken 
my knee. When we were in the carriage, he told me that 
I started in the night in such a manner, and talked so wildly, 
that he was very much afraid I should not live to see day- 
lio-ht. Poor fellow ! I have lived to see him buried. I 
imputed my starting and talking to the laudanum they had 

* About this time some, prisoners attempted to make their escape, and 
these invalids were sent for to suppress them, which they soon did with their 
bayonets. When they returned, they swore that if the disturbance had 
been among the debtors they would not have used their bayonets. I believe 
few of these honest fellows knew, and none of them cared, whether the}' 
-were debtors or criminals, until after they returned. — Author's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 217 

given to corn-pose me. After this day I generally attended 
Council, being in a few days so well as to go with crutches, 
which I continued to use for a considerable time. Returning 
the latter end of June from the Board on my crutches, I 
met Dr. Jones, who had not seen me for some time. He 
expressed his surprise at my still being on crutches, and 
declared he would take them from me in the street, if he 
could do it. He told me to use myself a little while without 
them, and I should find there was no occasion for them. At 
first leaving them off I was like a child learning to walk, 
catching at anything near me. I was soon able to go with 
a stick ; my knee gave me no pain, but was weak, as it still 
is, and ever must be to the end of the chapter. IsTo person 
could tell, six months after the accident, by my walking, 
that I had ever received any injury. 

This year, 1787, the Convention for forming a Fe(Jeral 
Constitution met in Philadelphia; I was acquainted with most 
of the members. Some of the best informed told me, they 
did not believe a single member was perfectly satisfied with 
the Constitution, but they believed it was the best they could 
ever agree upon, and that it was infinitely better to have 
such a one than to break up without fixing on some form of 
government, which I believe at one time it was expected they 
would have dong. For my own part I have no doubt it is 
the best in the world, and as perfect as any human form of 
government can be. We had in the Convention many of the 
best and wisest men in this or any other country. 

There were some disturbances this year in the Legislature 
about calling a Convention for the ratification of the" Federal 
Constitution. A motion was made for that purpose the 28th 
of September. After some debate the further consideration 
was postponed until the next day. The following day nine- 
teen members opposed to the measure staid from the House, 
by which means a quorum could not be made. The reason 
they gave for staying away, was that the business did not 
come regularly before them. The Sergeant at Arras was 
sent for them. When he returned he informed the Speaker 
and other members present, that he had seen the absent mem- 



218 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

bers at the house of Alexander Boyd, that he informed tliem 
he was directed by the Speaker and other members to request 
their attendance. Mr. Robert Whitehill, one of the leading- 
members, replied that there was no house, that they had not 
made up their minds, and therefore would not attend. The 
day after (the 29th) those members not attending, the Ser- 
geant at Arms and clerk were sent after them. They saw 
most of the members, but they refused to attend. It is men- 
tioned in the Journals of the House that Mr. McCalmont and 
Mr. Mi ley appeared, by which means a quorum was made. 
The fact is, some gentlemen went to Boyd's, where most of 
the absent members lodged, and there found McCalmont and 
Miley, and finding they could not persuade them, forced 
them to the House, by which means they had a quorum, and 
the resolution calling a Convention was adopted.* Upon 
a memorial being presented to Council from the members 

* This well-known incident occasioned a serio-comic debate in the As- 
sembly. 

"The Speaker left the chair, and in a few minutes Mr. James McCal- 
mont and Mr James Miley entered the House. The Speaker resumed* the 
chair, and the roll was called. ... 

"Mr. McCalmont informed the House that .he had been forcibly brought 
into the Assembly room contrary to his wishes, this morning, by a number 
of the citizens whom he did not know, and that, therefore, he begged he 
might be dismissed the House." 

After some discussion : — 

" Mr. McCalmont : ' I desire that the rules may be read, and I will agree 
to stand by the rules of the House.' 

" The rules were read accordingly, and it appeared that every member 
who did not answer on calling the roll, should pay two shillings and sixpence, 
or, if there was not a (piorum without him, five shillings. 

"Mr. McCalmont then rose from his place, and, putting his hand in his 
pocket, took out some loose silver, and said, ' Well, sir, here is your five 
shillings ; so let me go.' " 

This proffer being refused, the discussion was resumed. After a time : 

"Mr. McCalmont now rose and made towards the door. Mr. Fitz- 
simmons addressed him, but so as not to be heard — and the gallery called 
out stop him, there being a number of citizens at the door he went toward.''^ 

The two unwilling legislators being thus forced to remain, the Assembly 
was able to order a Convention to consider the proposed Federal Constitu- 
tion, and immediately adjourned sine die. See Lloyd's Reports. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 219 

who had been dragged before the House, complaining of the 
conduct of those who had forced them there, and requesting 
they should be prosecuted, an order was given to the Attor- 
nej^ General to issue writs against them. Some of the gen- 
tlemen ordered to be prosecuted were ray intimate friends, 
and they expected that I would not vote for this measure, 
but would oppose it. Although it was a very disagreeable busi- 
ness to me, I conceived it to be my duty, and therefore voted 
for it. I dined in company with one of them the day the res. 
olution passed Council ; he was displeased at first, but was 
soon satisfied it was right. Some of my friends who knew 
how I should vote, wished me to stay from the Board that day, 
but I despised this way of getting oft' doing what, although 
disagreeable, it was my duty to do. 

The dragging McCalmont and Miley to the House, and 
some gross insults oftered in the ISTovember following to the 
members at Boyd's, who were most of them those who' had 
left the Legislature in September, was one principal reason 
of the removal of the seat of government from Philadelphia 
(although it happened long after), many of the country mem- 
bers declaring they could not speak their sentiments, or give 
their votes freely without . risking their being insulted. 
From this time until they eftected their purpose, they were 
continually attempting to remove from the city. Unfortu- 
nately, many of the principal people in the city looked upon 
and treated the Western members with groat contempt. It 
was therefore natural for them to resent such treatment; they 
considered the inhabitants of the city as their enemies, who 
only wanted an opportunity to injure them, and were deter- 
mined to do it without regarding the consequences to the 
State or themselves. A little more attention being paid to 
them by the citizens of Philadelphia would, I believe, have 
prevented their removing the seat of government, which was 
attended with a great expense to the State, and of no advan- 
tage whatever either to the members of the Legislatui-e or 
any others, except to the tavern-keepers and those who kept 
boarding-houses in Lancaster ; indeed, I believe to most of 
the members it was a disadvantage, for during the winter in 



220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the city, they could transact business for themselves and their 
neighbors, which they could not, by any means, do as well 
in Lancaster. The Western members were certainly to blame 
to let their resentment get the better of their judgment. I 
believe now, 1804, with a little management they could be 
brought back to the city, and if they were, it would be long 
before they would again leave it. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 221 



CHAPTER IV. 

The disturbances at Wyoming still continuing, and com- 
plaints being continually made to Council by the Pennsylvania 
landholders, who had occasion to go into the county, the 
Board thought it would be necessary to send some militia 
from Berks and Northampton ounties. They therefore sent 
for Capt. Craig,* the county lieutenant of IS'orthampton, to 
consult with him as to the number of militia necessary. to be 
sent on the expedition. When Craig came to town, he gave 
it as his opinion that if John Franklin was taken, the other 
insurgents would soon be quiet, for that he was the man who 
occasioned all the disturbances. After mentioning our inten- 
tion of sending out the militia, he said he would rather have 
a few old Continental officers than all the militia of Berks 
and Northampton, for it" was only necessary to take Franklin, 
and if Council ;^'ould allow him to take eight or ten of his 
friends, he would bring Franklin to Philadelphia, or never 
return. Council agreeing to let him have his own way, be 
chose seven officers who had served with him, three of whom 
I knew, Stevenson, Brady, and Erb, and more determined 
fellows never went upon any desperate enterprise. They 
were going to take from the midst of his friends a very stout, 
active man, as fearless as any of themselves. Although Craig 
and his companions were anxious to go, it was against my 
inclination they went, as I thought it highly probable they 
would all be sacrificed. Franklin has told me since that it 

* John Craig, a very mild, worthy man, cousin of Col. Craig, and, like 
him, an intelligent, active, gallant ofhcer. He served all the war in Moy- 
lan's Regiment of Horse. — Author's notk. 



222 AUT0BI0(4RAPHY OF 

was owing to the chapter of accidents that they were not. 
They went to Wilkes-Barre under pretence of purchasing 
land from the Connecticut claimants, for whom they pre- 
tended a great regard. Watching their opportunity when 
Franklin was alone in a tavern they attacked him. He 
called out that the Pennemites* were murdering hira, but he 
was not heard. They got him down, and with great diffi- 
culty tied his hands behind his back, and gagged him. They 
had prepared themselves with a rope and gag before they 
took hold of him. He fought with great desperation, and 
there was not one of them that did not feel the weight of his 
arm. He hurt Stevenson so much that he would have shot 
him through the head if Craig had not prevented him. They 
got him at last on horseback, tied his feet under the horse's 
belly, and set off before his friends could assemble and arm 
themselves. They rode thirty-eight miles before they halted ; 
they were closely pursued, and if they had halted sooner it is 
probable they would have been overtaken and killed, for they 
were all well armed and would not have surrendered. Craig 
appeared before Council about ten days after he set oft"; he 
sent the doorkeeper in for me, and informed me when I went 
to him, that he had brought Franklin to town. Council 
ordered him to gaol, and, as it was apprehended he would 
endeavor to make his escape, he was ordered in irons. Craig 
and his companions had three hundred pounds given them. 
They were entitled to much more ; however, with that sum 
they were perfectly satisiied. 

The bringing away Franklin did not settle the disturbances. 
The commissioners sent there by Council agreeable to an " Act 
for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Con- 
necticut claimants, the lands by them claimed- within the 
county of Luzerne, and for other purposes therein mentioned," 
which act was much in their favor and against the Pennsyl- 
vania claimants, by whom it was complained of very nmch, 
were obliged to leave the county. Council recommended it 

* Those who held under Fenusylvania were called Pennemites. — 

AUTHOU'S NOTK. 



CHARLES BIDPLE. 223 

in their message to the Legislature to raise a number of men 
to be stationed in the county, which in their opinion was the 
only way to keep these turbulent people quiet. The passing 
this act, called the Quieting Act, was very improper, as it 
encouraged these people in their opposition. After it had been 
passed, the repealing of it gave them just cause of complaint. 
When a public act is passed, if the repealing is inJLU-ious to 
any individuals, it should not fe done without their consent. 
Instead of repealirig' the act, the Legislature should have 
paid the Pennsylvania claimants for their land, and this in 
the end, I believe, w^ould have been the cheapest way of set- 
tling this business. The public, no more than an individual, 
should ever break a contract because it is injurious to keep it. 

About this time a society was formed in the city for Political 
Inquiries, of which Dr. Franklin was chosen President. I 
was elected a member. We had one gentleman in the party, 
who, by his writings and incessant talking, disturbed usVery 
much. He often reminded me of a story L)r. Franklin used 
to tell of two French bishops, who were incessant talkers. 
They happened to meet at a friend's, when one of them began 
a story. He spoke for a long time, the other eagerly watch- 
ing an opportunity to speak, when one of the company told 
him he had better walk away with him, for he would not be 
able to slip in a word. Yes, I will, answered the impatient 
bishop, " for he will soon be obliged to spit, and then it will 
be my turn." If our member had not been a very worthy 
man I should have told him the story. The society was not 
well attended, and never met after the death of Dr. Franklin. 

A resolution of Council passed this summer, that eight 
days after the election of President and Vice-President there 
should be an election for Secretary to Council. There had 
been none from the time General Armstrong was first elected. 
The resolution was brought forward and adopted by those 
opposed to him. It was, however, very proper that those 
who sat at the Board should have a choice in their Secretary. 
Armstrong, supposing h*e would not be chosen, intimated to 
me that he had some thoughts of resigning ; that as soon as 
he had made up his mind about it he would inform me. 



224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

This he soon after did, when I applied to my friends in 
Council for the appointment. One man at the Board had a 
relative whom he wished to be the Secretary, and he made all 
the interest he could for him. When the election came on,* 
Dr. Franklin, although at that time very much troubled with 
the stone, went to Council, and there voted, and used his 
intercist for me. I should have been elected even had he not 
attended. Ills doing so was a. strong mark of his friendship ; 
to his family and friends he always expressed a great regard 
for me, and I never had any reason to doubt hiir-. Calling 
on him a few days after ray appointment, to see if he had 
any commands, he told me that the evening before he had 
received an anonymous letter recommending in very strong 
terms a friend of ours for an office just vacant, that although 
the hand was disguised he was pretty certain the person 
recommended had written the letter himself, and begged me 
to stay until he came, which he expected would be in a few 

minutes. Accordingly, soon after Mr. R came in. 

When seated, and we had talked of the news of the day, etc., 
the Doctor took the letter from his pocket, and read it to 
himself. He then handed it to me, and inquired if I knew 
the handwriting. I gave a glance at the person with us 
when the Doctor began to read, and saw that he was greatly 
confused ; but when the Doctor handed me the letter, he 
turned very pale, and was so much agitated that I was afraid 
he would have fallen from his chair. As soon as he recovered 
himself a little, he pretended to recollect some business that 
required his immediate attendance, and very abruptly left 
us. After he was gone the Doctor laughed very heartily, 
in which I could not help joining, although I pitied the man 
very much. He did not for a long time after this call on the 
Doctor, and when he did never mentioned anything about 
the office which he was by no means qualified to lill. From 
the letter one would suppose he was qualified and deserved 
any office in the government. I should not have suspected 

* October 23d, 1787. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 225 

him to have written the letter, but from his conduct there 
could be no doubt that he did. 

In October, this year, my time having expired as a member 
of the Executive Council,* I was elected a member of the 
Legislature for Berks County. My good old friend Colonel 
Lutz was very busy at the election, threatening what he 
would do if he saw a ticket that had not my name on it. 
Henry Wertz was also busy there, as he had been when I 
was elected into the Supreme Executive Council. It was he 
who declared on that occasion that he had "often fought 
mid me," when we had not a gun on board at the time he 
sailed with me. The member for the county, who it was 
supposed voted against me as Vice-President, could not get 
a vote. I resigned from the Legislature without taking my 
seat, being well assured that I should be elected Secretary 
to Council, and I could not hold that office and be a member 
of the Legislature. 

The 4th of July, 1788, was celebrated in a manner highly 
gratifying to all the inhabitants of the city. There was a 
grand Federal procession in which all classes of citizens 
joined. In front there were twelve axemen, dressed in white 
frocks ; second, the First City Troop ; third, the Cap of 'Lib- 
erty, carried by John JN'ixon, Esquire; fourth, four pieces of 
artillery, with the company of artillery men ; tifth, Thomas 
Fitzsimmons, Esquire, carrying a white flag emblematical of 
the French alliance ; sixth. Light Infantry ; seventh, George 

* Ix COUXCIL, 

Philadelphia, Tuesday, October 9th, 1787. 
On motion, 

Resolved^ Tliat tlie thanks of this Board be presented to the Hon- 
orable Charles Biddle, Esquire, our late worthy Vice-President, for the in- 
tegrity, diligence, and ability with which he has discharged the various 
duties of that important office. 
Extract from the Minutes. 

James Trimble, 

for John Armstrong, Sec'y. 
Honorable Charles Biddle, Esquire, 
Late Vice-President of the 

Supreme Executive Council of Pennsyhania. 
15 



226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Clymer, Esquire, with a flag emblematical of the definitive 
treaty of peace ; eighth, Colonel Shee, carrying a flag with 
the words, "Washington the Friend of his Country," in sil- 
ver letters; ninth, the Second City Troop; tenth, Richard 
Bache, as a herald proclaiming a " IS'ew Era ;" eleventh, 
General Muhlenberg carrying a blue flag w^ith " Seventeenth 
of September, 1787," in silver letters; twelfth, a band of ex- 
cellent music ; thirteenth, the Constitution, the judges* in 
their robes seated in a car ; fourteenth, Light Infantry ; fif- 
teenth, ten gentlemen, representing those States that had 
ratified the Constitution ; sixteenth, Col. William William in 
armor ; seventeenth. Light Horse, from Montgomery ; eigh- 
teenth, representatives of foreign States in a car with their 
flags; nineteenth, judge, register, and marshal of the admi- 
ralty ; twentieth, wardens of the port ; twenty-first, officers 
of the customs ; twenty-second, Peter Baynton as a citizen, 
and J. Melcher as an Indian chief, expressing their brotherly 
love ; twenty-third, troop of dragoons, from Berks County ; 
twenty-fourth. Federal edifice drawn by ten white horses, 
followed by about five hundred architects and house-carpen- 
ters ; twenty-fifth, Cincinnati and militia ofiicers ; twenty- 
sixth, infantry; twenty-seventh, agricultural society; twenty- 
eighth, farmers with two ploughs; thirtieth, infantry; 
thirty-first. Marine Society ; thirty-second. Federal ship, 
formerly the barge of the Serapis, fitted up remarkably 
well and rigged as a ship, commanded by Captain Green 
(my passenger from the bay of Honduras) well manned, had 
all her sails set, and was worked as if at sea. N"othing 
in the procession gave so much delight to the spectators as 
this ship. Canvass was nailed round her to conceal the 
wheels and machinery. Then followed the pilol^ of the 
port with their boat, boatbuilders, sailmakers, shipjoiners, 
ropemakers, shipchandlers, merchants and traders, light in- 
fantry, other trades and professions, their places determined 

* The car was so very high that I did not think the Judges altogether 
safe. They had to go up a ladder to get into it. I thought they cut a very 
awkward figure going up the ladder. It reminded many of the spectators, 
as well as myself, of seeing men go up a ladder who never came down. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 227 

by lot. Cordwainers, coachpainters, cabinet and chairmakers, 
brickmakers, house, ship, and sign painters, porters, clock 
and watclimakers, weavers, bricklayers, tailors, instrument 
makers, turners, Windsor chairmakers and spinning wheel- 
makers, carvers and gilders, coopers, planeraakers, whip and 
canemakers; forty-eighth, blacksmiths, whitesmiths, and 
nailers, coachmakers ; fiftieth, potters; fifty-first, hatters; 
fifty-second, wheelwrights; fifty-third, tinplate workers; 
fifty-fourth, skinmen, breechesmakers, and glovers; fifty-fifth, 
tallow chandlers; fifty-sixth, victuallers; fifty-seventh, 
printers, bookbinders, and stationers ; fifty-eighth, saddlers ; 
fifty-ninth, stonecutters ; sixtieth, bread and biscuit bakers ; 
sixty-first, gunsmiths; sixty-second, coppersmiths; sixty- 
third, goldsmiths, silversmiths, and jewellers ; sixty-fourth, 
distillers, tobacconists ; sixty- sixth, brass founders ; sixty- 
seventh, stocking manufacturers, tanners and curriers, uphol- 
sterers, sugar refiners ; seventy-first, brewers ; seventy-second, 
perukemakers and barber surgeons ; seventy- third, engravers ; 
seventy -fourth, plasterers; seventy-fifth, brushmakers ; sev- 
enty-sixth, staymakers ; seventy-seventh. Light Infantry ; 
seventy-eighth, civil and military officers of Congress ; sev- 
enty-ninth. Supreme Executive Council ; eightieth, justices 
of the Court of Common Pleas, and the magistrates ; eighty- 
first, sheriff and coroner ; eighty-second, board of wardens, 
city treasury cler'ks, constables, etc., a band of music, watch- 
men, street commissioners ; eighty-fourth, gentlemen of the 
bar; eighty-fifth, clergy; eighty-sixth, physicians; eighty- 
seventh, students of the University ; eighty-eighth. County 
Troop, brought up the rear. 

After going through the city, they proceeded to Bush Hill, 
where there was an excellent cold collation provided. Judge 
Wilson delivered an oration, but owing to some mistake, the 
cannon began firing just as he began to speak, so that no one 
could understand anything he said. It was, however, after- 
wards printed and much admired. The scene from Bush 
Hill was truly magnificent. I never saw on any occasion so 
much satisfaction expressed on every countenance as there was 
on this day. No accident happened, and the utmost harmony 



228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

prevailed during the whole day, which was, a remarkably 
fine one. All the professions and trades carried emblemati- 
cal flags, and many of the tradesmen were at work while the 
procession was proceeding on. The whole business of the 
day is fully described by Judge liopkinson, chairman of the 
committee of arrangements, who was well calculated for such 
an undertaking. 

In July, 1788, Colonel Eleazer Oswald was brought before 
the Supreme Court for a contempt of court in publisliing a 
piece in his paper against Andrew Brown at a time a suit 
was pending in court between him and Brown. Upon his 
refusing to answer interrogatories he was sentenced to one 
month's imprisonment, and a fine of ten pounds. The fine 
was remitted by Council, but he suffered the imprisonment. 
When the Legislature met he applied to them to impeach 
the judges, and had there been a majority of Constitutional- 
ists in the House, they certainly would have been impeached, 
for it ever has, and always will be, the case that the party in 
power will bend a little to one of their own party, and Oswald 
at that time was considered a Constitutionalist, although 
some time before he had been violent against them. In his 
memorial to the House he mentions that, " Judge Thorpe, in 
Edward the Third's time, was hanged for suffering the Court 
of Justice to be perverted; in Richard the Second's time 
eleven of the Judges were condemned to death, and, although 
only two were executed, all the others were forever banished 
as unworthy to enjoy the benefit of that law which they had 
so perfidiously and basely betrayed, and as an example to 
future judges, and forever to make their ears to tingle." I 
have no doubt but that Oswald would have been very glad 
to have seen our judges hanged, especially the Chief Justice* 
for whom he entertained an implacable hatred. I was in 
court when he received his sentence, which he heard with 
great composure. A number of people followed him, who 
as soon as they got out of court gave three cheers, and did 
the same when he went into gaol, looking on him as unjustly 

* Chief Justice McKean. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 229 

sentenced. The resolutions offered bj the parties then in 
the House will show their opinions on this business. Octo- 
ber 3, 1788, the following resolution was offered by Mr. 
Cljmer, and seconded by Mr. Peters. 

" Resolved, That this House having in a committee of the 
whole, gone into a full examination of the charges exhibited 
by Eleazer Oswald, of arbitrary and oppressive proceedings in 
the Justices of the Supreme Court, against the said E. 
Oswald, are of opinion that the charges are unsupported by 
the testimony adduced, and consequently, that there is no just 
cause for impeaching the said "Justices," which was carried 
in the affirmative. 

It was then moved by Mr. Findley and seconded by Mr. 
Kennedy, to postpone the above, in order to introduce the 
following, viz: — 

" Whereas, the Constitution of this Commonwealth has ex- 
pressly secured to every citizen the right of trial by jury in 
criminal prosecutions ; therefore usages, however ancient, or 
from whatever quarter they may have been introduced, cannot 
supersede this positive right. 

" Although the Courts of Justice, for their own defence 
and the protection of the course of justice, must necessarily 
possess the power of compelling obedience to their authority, 
as well as j^eace, j?rder, and decency in their presence, yet this 
is no more than that right of repelling force by force, neces- 
sary for the existence and usefulness of the Courts of Justice, 
which is analogous to that right of self-defence which every 
man^ naturally enjoys ; yet, nevertheless, such freedom of 
writing or speaking, as is only calculated to disparage the 
persons of the Judges, or to influence the causes depending 
before the courts, and not read or uttered in the presence of 
the said courts, although punishable by indictment, ought 
not to be turned into contempt, by construction or implica- 
tion, at the discretion of the Judges; therefore 

''Resolved, That the proceedings of the Supreme Court 
against Colonel E. Oswald, in punishing by fine and im- 
prisonment at their discretion, for a constructive or implied 
contempt, not committed in the presence of the Court, nor 



260 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

against an}'' officer or order thereof, but for writing and pub- 
lishing improperly or indecently, respecting a cause depend- 
ing before the Supreme Court, and respecting some of the 
Judges of the said Court, was an unconstitutional exercise of 
judicial power, and sets an alarming precedent of the most 
dangerous consequence to the citizens of this Commonwealth. 

"And whereas, Though the Constitution of the Common- 
wealth declares the printing presses be open for the examina- 
tion of every department of government, yet the Legislature 
hath hitherto neglected to define the nature of contempts, or 
direct the nature or extent of their punishment, consequently 
the Justices have been left to act under the influence of 
arbitrary and illegal usages ; therefore 

" Resolved^ That it be specially recommended to the ensuing 
General Assembly to define the nature and extent of con- 
tempt, and direct their punishments." 

This was lost, and the first resolution carried, which ended 
the business with the Leo;islature. Manv gentlemen of the 
bar think the Legislature could not pass an act to " define 
the nature and extent of contempt," but I am of a difi'erent 
opinion. If the court have a right to confine a man a month 
for a contempt of court, they may for any length of time. 
The party who were so much in favor of the Chief Justice at 
this time, a few years afterwards, when he was elected Gov- 
ernor, would have gone any length to have punished him, as 
would the others to have supported him.* 

Oswald was much pitied, especially by all the old Whigs, 
on account of his former services. He had been a colonel in 
the Continental army, and distinguished himself for his 
bravery on several occasions, for which he had the thanks of 
General Washington. When the war broke out in France, 
he went there and served in their artillery. He was in. the 
battle of Jemappes and some other engagements. He, how- 
ever, soon ^ot tired of this service, and returned home. The 
French had not at that time the discipline he thought neces- 

* An act for defining and limiting the power of judges iji commitments 
for contempt of court is now (1883) pending in the British Parliament. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 231 

sary. He told me that the soldiers, to show how much liberty 
they enjoyed, or how little they cared for their officers, when 
ordered " to the right face," would face to the left. This 
was in the beginning of their Revolution. I suppose they 
learned to behave better afterwards, for certainly no troops 
fought better than they did. 

There was at this time in the city of Philadelphia a society 
that called themselves the " Adopted Sons of Pennsylvania," 
among whom were some valuable " adopted sons." Oswald 
was much opposed to this society, and thinking such a society 
unnecessary and improper, he every day ridiculed them in his 
paper. One of the members whom he had personally in- 
sulted (Mr. Matthew Carey, a worthy man) challenged him. 
Oswald was always ready upon these occasions ; he accepted 
the challenge, and they fought in Jersey. Mr. Carey was 
shot through the thigh, and was a long time before hp re- 
covered. Oswald would have had to fight some others of the 
society, if Captain Rice and some of his old brother officers 
had not declared he should not, that the next member of the 
society that wanted to fight should take one of them, and 
after some contention they agreed to let Rice, who was 
Oswald's most particular friend, be the first that oifered. 
Rice was much such a man as Oswald. The society was soon 
after broken up.^ 

The people of Luzerne, not contented with driving from 
the county the commissioners sent by the Executive Council, 
obliged Col. Pickering, the prothonotary of the county, to 
leave it. They treated him with great indignity. It was sup- 
posed when he was appointed, that as he was a native of I^ew 
England and a man of great respectability, he would be able 
to keep those people quiet, and this he supposed himself he 
could do ; but they regarded no person that opposed their 
designs. A Capt. William Ross, a young man of the county, 
distinguished himself in favor of government. He was 
wounded in apprehending some of the insurgents. Upon a 
representation of his good conduct to the Legislature, they 
gave him five hundred dollars, and Council made him a pre- 
sent of a sword. 



232 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF 

In the month of September this year, Levi and Abraham 
Dean, two young men of Bucks County, were taken prisoners, 
and brought before the Supreme Court, then sitting in Phila- 
delphia. Being outlawed, it was only necessary to identify 
them, to sentence them to death. As they were well known 
in Bucks County this was done, and they received their 
sentence. Tl^ case of these young men was exceedingly 
hard. When very young, their fathers were very ill-treated 
by some violent committee-men in the county, on account of 
their attachment to the British Government. The father of 
Abraham Doan had his plantation confiscated and sold, and 
these lads were threatened, if they did not voluntarily enter 
into the American army, they should be pressed. In con- 
sequence of this they went off and joined the British. It 
was said they afterwards committed depredations in the 
neighborhood of wdiere they were born, and it is probably 
true. If the treatment of their parents did not justify them, 
it certainly was some excuse for their conduct. At the con- 
clusion of the peace they returned to the county, as they said, 
to see their friends and relations ; but one of them, it was 
generally thought, came back on account of a very handsome 
girl he was fond of before he Avent to the British, and his 
cousin would not leave him. They were concealed a con- 
siderable time by their friends ; it at length, however, became 
known that they were in the county, when several who were, 
or conceived themselves injured l>y them, endeavored to have 
them apprehended ; but as they were very stout, active, 
resolute men, and went always well armed, those who were 
in pursuit of them, were afraid openly to attack thera. 
Probably there hardly lived a more active man than the 
younger, Abraham. If he was seen by persons on horseback 
in pursuit of him, and he on foot, he would run like a deer, 
and no fence could stop him a moment. He went over any 
fence without putting a hand on it. They were both tall, 
handsome men. A considerable time after their return into 
the State, they were taken by surprise in Chester County, by 
some young men who were out hunting, who from their 
appearance in the woods armed, and from their endeavors to 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 233 

conceal themselves, suspected them of having some bad in- 
tentions, and insisted on their going before a magistrate. 
They made no resistance, hoi:)ing as they were not known, 
that they would be immediately dismissed ; in this, however, 
they were greatly mistaken. They were carried before Col. 
Ilannum, who committed them to gaol. Had they not at- 
tempted to conceal themselves, they w^ould not have been 
apprehended, for they told a very plausible story of their 
being New Jerseymen on the way to the westward to take up 
land.* After they were condemned, and a time was fixed 
for their execution, the father of Abraham, several female 
relations and friends, and some influential gentlemen, waited 
on Council to solicit a pardon for them, or if that could not 
be obtained, a reprieve. The latter was readily granted. 

Hearing much of these men, and wishing to communicate 
intelligence which I knew would give groat pleasure to these 
unfortunate men and their friends, I w^ent to gaol to inform 
them that Council had granted a reprieve for one month. I 
wished also to prepare them for the worst that might happen. 
When I went into the room they were surrounded by their 
relations and friends, among whom wore several females, two 
of them very handsome girls that had lived with them in the 
woods. It was to no purpose I told them that the prisoners 
were only reprieved for a month, and that it was proba- 
ble they would not be pardoned. When they found they 
were reprieved, they gave way to the most extravagant joy ; 

* Had they applied to Thomas Ross, Esq., a gentleman of the Bar, who 
then lived at Chester (and was present when they were brought before Col. 
Hannum), within a day or two of their commitment, he would have had 
them liberated ; but owing to some mistake they did not apply in time, and 
they were detained until, some people coming to Chester from Bucks County, 
they were known. As there was no reward offered for apprehending them, 
the people who took them were no ways anxious about their being kept in 
prison. Mr. Ross, who was their counsel when they were brought before 
the Court, has since told me that he lamented they had not applied in time 
to him, for he knew the tamily had been hardly used. He was born near 
where these young men were, and knew them well before they went off, but 
did not recollect them when they were brought before Col. Hannum.— 

AUTHOU'S NOTK 



234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

they all concluded that through the intercession of friends, 
they should be pardoned. This, I told them, they must not 
expect, although I had very little doubt myself but what a 
pardon would be granted. I always thought it wrong to 
grant a reprieve for any length of time, without granting a 
pardon ; it is like putting a man to death in cold blood. 
Before the month expired the Legislature met, when they 
petitioned for a pardon, and if that could not be obtained, for 
a trial by jury. The Legislature were inclined to pass a bill 
in their favor, and appointed a committee consisting of Mr. 
Lewis, Mr. Fitzsimmons, and Mr. Rittenhouse, to confer with 
the Supreme Executive Council on the subject of their peti- 
tion. This, I believe, was what proved fatal to these young 
men. Several of the members of Council thought the Legis- 
lature had no business to interfere, as the power of pardoning, 
by the Constitution, was given to Council. They refused to 
pardon, or to extend the time fixed for their execution. It 
was in vain the members of the Legislature and the minority 
in Council urged the peculiar situation of these unfortunate 
men; the majority were jealous of the interference of the Leg- 
islature, and it was carried by a very small majority that 
they should suffer. Going to Council the day after the con- 
ference, I met them going in a cart to the gallows, followed 
by their relations and friends. It was a very affecting sight. 
They died with great firmness. 

After the election in October, 1788, there was a majority in 
Council of Republicans, and they were determined on making 
a change in some of the oflicers of Government. Among 
others, they intended to take the office of Prothonotary of 
the Court of Common Pleas from J. B. Smith, Esq. The can- 
didates proposed by the party were James Wilson, Esq., and 
my brother James.* When Mr. Smith found he should be 

* During the time I was Vice-President, Judge Bryan's time expired 
(the Judges being then elected for seven years), and my brother James was 
proposed to be elected in his room. Several of my Republican friends 
spoke to me, to endeavor to get him elected ; and although he was as dear 
to me as it was possible for one brother to be to another, for he had been 
more than a father to me, I could not think of using any interest I had 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 235 

displaced, he sent for me ; he told me, he would for many 
reasons prefer my brother being appointed to the office to 
Mr. Wilson, and he had some thoughts of resigning, and asked 
my opinion. I told him it was a subject he had better con- 
sult some of his other friends upon, as my brother was sup- 
posed to be a candidate I was not a proper person to consult. 
This he said he would do, and desired me to call on him at 
eight o'clock in the evening. At that hour I called, when 
his son told me his father had just stepped out, that probably 
he would soon return, and invited me in ; I went, expecting 
he would return in a short time. The night was cold, and 
there was a good fire, by which I sat down, and taking up a 
book read until the watchman cried " past eleven o'clock," 
when finding Mr. Smith did not make his appearance I went 
home. The next day meeting Dr. Hutchinson he laughed 
very heartily, and told me he had never been in such ^ dis- 
agreeable situation as he had been the evening before, that 
Mr. Smith had requested another friend and himself to call 
on him to consult about his resigning, that they were with 
him at the time I knocked at the door, that not having fin- 
ished their consultation, they did not wish to see me, and 
just before I entered the parlor they opened a door that led 
to the cellar, on the front step of which they stood during the 
whole of the time of mvbeina; iu the house. Hutchinson said 
he was half crazy, having a particular engagement that even- 
ing at a relation of Mrs. Hutchinson's, who was to wait for 
him. They would have come out of their hiding place, but 
that they expected every minute I would go. I told him it 
was fortunate for them that their situation was not known 
to me, or they should have cooled themselves much longer. 
It was ridiculous for them to go there, for if I had found 
them together, Mr. Smith could have told me they had not 
yet 'finished their business, and I should have gone off" and 
left them. After the consultation Mr. Smith concluded to 
resign, which he did the next day, and my brother was elected. 

against Mr. Bryan, with whom no fault couM be found, and whose friends 
had always interested themselves to serve me. — Authok's notk. 



236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Mr. Smitli is a worthy man, and nothing but the violence of 
party would have occasioned his being attacked. I sent off 
a servant express for my brother, who knew nothing of my 
intention to propose him as a candidate until the servant 
arrived at Reading, which was late at night. The next even- 
ing he came to town and took possession of his office, which 
he was well qualiiied to fill, having had it before the Revo- 
lution. As it was his wish to have this office, nothing could 
give me more pleasure than procuring it for him. Everyone 
who knew this excellent man loved and esteemed him.* 

There was a petition this year to the Legislature from 
William Moore, Esq. (before the Revolution an eminent mer- 
chant, afterwards Vice-President of the Supreme Executive 
Council), stating that Continental money was paid him when 
much depreciated for goods imported before the war, that he 
had offered in payment certificates in which he had invested 
the Continental money he received for the goods, but the 
British agents had refused to take them. The agents acted 
very properly in refusing to take the certificates. It was 

* Jamt's Bidflle, eldest brother of Charles Biddle, was born February 18, 
1731, and studied law with John Ross, then considered at the head of the 
Philadelphia Bar, whose executor he afterwards became. He practised in 
Berks, Lancaster, and Northampton counties, residing in Reading until 
about 1760, when he removed to Philadelphia, on being appointed Deputy 
Prothonotary. Later he was made Deputy Judge in Admiralty, under the 
Royal Government, Mr. Jared IngersoU being the Judge. In December, 
1776, he removed to Reading, and continued the practice of the law until 
1788, when he was made Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of 
Philadelphia. In 1791 he was appointed President Judge of the First 
Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Avhich office he retained until his death, 
in 1797. He was buried in the grounds of Christ Church, of which church 
he was a vestryman in 1776, and present at a vestry meeting on 4th July, 
of that year, when it was resolved to " omit those petitions in the Liturgy 
wherein the King of Great Britain is prayed for." 

John Dickinson writes, July 7, 1797 : — 

"I sincerely sympathize with you all on the death of thy excellent 
brother. I had known him for upwards of forty years, and to know him as 
I did was to love him. I have always greatly esteemed }'our family ; and 
their welfare will always give pleasure to thy truly affectionate friend, 

John Dickinson." 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 237 

certainly a great hardship upon Mr. Moore and others in 
similar situations, but it would have been very unjust to 
oblige the British merchants to take less than was actually 
due them. In cases of this kind, the Government should 
have made up any loss the merchant sustained. Many per- 
sons took advantage of the Tender Acts, as they were called, 
by paying otf their bonds and mortgages when the money 
Avas good for little or nothing. There were, however, a great 
many who would not do this, but paid their debts honestly 
in specie. In Virginia, I have been informed, the Tender 
Act was much worse than in any other State, for there, it 
was said, owing to the great quantity of State money they 
made, it was much worse than the Continental money ; so 
much so, that with a Continental dollar you could purchase 
forty State dollars, and thus with one Continental dollar pay 
a specie debt of forty dollars, and as sixty Continental dollars 
could be had for a silver dollar, you could pay a debt of' two 
thousand four hundred dollars with one Spanish dollar. 
What a temptation to a thief! I heard of a great many 
people losing by the Continental money, but knew of but few. 
General Neville, who served with me in Council, sold the 
estate he lived on, in 1775, for twelve thousand pounds Vir- 
ginia currency, which was paid by agreement in Continental 
money. At that time it had not depreciated. He went soon 
after to join th^army, when he locked the money up care- 
fully in his desk, and never touched it until the war was 
ended, when it was good for nothing. I never lost anythino- 
but once by the Continental money, and- then I did not blame 
the gentleman who paid me, Mr. John Stanley, of IsTewbern. 
He purchased a quantity of rum upon a long credit, to be 
paid in whatever money should then be a legal tender. We 
used to laugh about our bargain, he telling me he considered 
the rum as a present, and I, that he would have to pay me 
in specie. When the time he was to pay came round, I called 
on him for the money, upon which he sent a bell-man round 
the town, sold a hogshead of rum at vendue, and paid me 
with less than one-half of what it sold for. At this some of 
my friends found fault with him, but I never did, for it was 



238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

a fair bargain between us. Had I given bim anotber year's 
credit, he would bave bad to pay me in specie, whicb I am 
sure be would bave done witbout hesitation. 

Some wbo were knowing enough to invest their Continen- 
tal money in certificates, made their fortunes by it. For my 
own part, I never could see why those certificates should be 
redeemed any more than the Continental bills. Congress bad 
pledged themselves as much for the redemption of the one 
as of the other. A considerable sum in certificates was sent 
from Charleston, belonging to the estate of my brother Nich- 
olas, which my brother James (who knew as little about 
money matters as any man in the world, and none cared less 
about money) gave to a knowing friend for Continental bills. 
For some time after the commencement of the war I did not 
expect our paper would depreciate much, but when I saw it 
sent from Philadelphia by wagon loads I expected it would 
soon be of little value. We had in Pennsjdvania, State 
Island* money, so-called because the island was to be sold to 
redeem it. This, however, soon depreciated to eight for one 
specie dollar. At this time Mr. William Bingham was in 
Reading ; speaking to bim of this money, he advised me to buy 
up some of it, but I expected it would go as the Continental 
money did, and therefore did not do it. I believe Mr. Bing- 
ham purchased a large amount of it. Soon after you could 
not get a dollar of it for a specie dollar, for it carried interest, 
and there was not enough of it issued to pay for the island, 
which was sold in lots, and purchasers were obliged to pay in 
their bills or in specie, so that ihe. holders received principal 
and interest. 

In February, 1789, going one evening to my brother's to 
see some friends from Reading, the jjiavement l)eing slippery 
I was walking in the middle of the street, when, stepping to 

* "In 1780 the State of Pennsylvania emitted £100,000 for support of 
the army, and to provide a fund for their redemption the Executive was 
empowered to sell certain properties in the city of Philadelphia as well as 
Province Island, in the township of Kingsessing." — Philips, Paper Currency 
of the American Colonies. Province Island was at the mouth of the Schuyl- 
kill, along the western shore. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 239 

one side to avoid a sleigh that was driving fnriouslj along, 
I fell, and again injured mj knee so much that I could not 
get up, nor get out of the way of the horses, who had nearly 
released me from all my pain, for they passed close to my 
head. As the sleigh did not stop, I supposed the people in 
It did not see me. Some persons on the pavement soon came 
to my assistance, and carried me to my brother's house, near 
which the accident happened. N'ot a minute before, a sleigh 
went by with an acquaintance of mine (Mr. Matthew Irvi^ii) 
m it, who wanted me very much to get in with him, but 
being near my brother's I Avould not detain him. When 
Dr. Hutchinson came and examined my knee, he said it was 
very much injured, and that it would be a considerable time 
before I could leave the house. Fortunately for me, in this 
as well as every other misfortune that befell me, my spirits 
were not much atFected. When an accident happens to a 
man it is well for him to console himself by thinking it 
might have been worse. William Melvin, a sailor wholvas 
with me several voyages, was engaged to go to the West 
Indies. Shortly before the ship sailed he fell from the main 
yard and broke his leg, which prevented his going in her. 
The ship was supposed to be lost in a hurricane, as she was 
never heard of after she sailed. Will often told me how 
fortunate, it was he broke his leg. If a person can bring 
himself to think* thus, it will gre'atly tend to alleviate mis- 
fortunes to which we are all liable. I could on this occasion 
have consoled myself by thinking I might have had my 
scull fractured by the horses in the sleigh. A piece called 
" Resignation to Providence," I believe written by Goldsmith, 
has given me much relief when I have lost a relation or 
friend, or met with any misfortune. 

It was some weeks before Dr. Hutchinson would permit 
me to be removed. The manner in which I was carried 
home was a way proposed by myself Late at night my 
friends put me in a cot, and eight of them carried nie home 
on their shoulders. It was some time before I could Avalk 
with crutches. Although the second fall occasioned me a 
long confinement, I believe it was of service to me by placing 



240 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

the knee better than it was before; for all my friends 
observed that I walked much better after than before the 
last accident. 

At this time much was said for and against our State Con- 
stitution. We then had a Legislature consisting of a single 
branch. There is no doubt but such a Legislature will some- 
times pass improper acts, but at the same time it must be 
admitted they will at times be prevented by a second House 
from passing what is necessary and proper. For my own 
part, I thought at the time, as the Council of Censors was 
soon to meet, there was no necessity for calling a Convention ; 
however, it was a matter I was no ways anxious about. In 
the debate on this subject a resolution was offered to the 
effect that the Convention should publish their amendments 
and alterations for the consideration of the people, and 
adjourn at least four months previous to a confirmation. 
Tlie yeas and nays being called, there was but one nay, and 
that was a friend of mine, AVilliam Lewis, Esquire, and he 
entered his protest. In it he says that although it was his 
wish that the Convention should adjourn for the purposes 
mentioned in the resolution, the Legislature had no right to 

interfere. 

On May 9, 1789, my mother died of a fever, in the eighty- 
first year of her age. She retained her senses to the last, and 
was perfectly resigned, as I believe those who live to her age 
o-enerally are. All her misfortunes, and she had her share, 
she bore with uncommon fortitude, never repining. I believe 
a more cheerful, better woman never lived. She had ten chil- 
dren, five of whom died before her. Although the death of 
a parent at her time of life is seldom much to be regretted, 
I was sensibly affected at her loss ; for whenever I met with 
anything that made me uneasy, her conversation always con- 
soled me. It lias given me much pleasure since her death to 
think she never made a request I did not comply with. I 
was always happy to carry her any agreeable intelligence, or 
to do anything to please her. It must always give pleasure 
to a child, after the death of a parent, to reliect that he has 
been a comfort to her ; and nothing, I should suppose, would 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 241 

give a person more pain than knowing they had not done 
their duty to a parent, even if that parent had not behaved 
as It ought to have done. About four years before the 
death of my mother, in coming down a dark pair of stairs, 
she stepped on something lying on the stairs, fell, and broke 
her thigh. I was apprehensive she never would have o-ot 
well, but she soon perfectly recovered. At the time of the 
accident, nor afterwards, did she ever complain. When Gene- 
ral Washington passed through the city on his way to l^ew 
lork, after he was first chosen President of the United 
States, as he was to pass my door, I brought her from my 
brother's to my house to see him. Every person in the city 
was anxious to see this great and good man. The road and 
streets were crowded and so dusty there was no tellino- the 
color of his clothes. It must have been a most fatiguing day 
to him. My mother appeared to enjoy the procession as much 
as any of those with her. Among her papers I found 'the 
following: "In the year 1756 I lost my dear husband, and 
was eft without any fortune, with six children to provide 
for, the youngest not five years old. I was enabled through 
the mercy of God to keep them together with me, and giVe 
them schooling. When my eldest son, James,* "and my 
fourth son, Edward, were, by their industry and care, enabled 
to assist me, and their brothers and sisters, they performed it 
with a cheerfulness which showed the goodness of their 
hearts, and made their mother, in the language of Scripture 
sing for joy. When my third son, John, had^it in his power' 
he performed his duty with the same goodness. My fifth 
son, Charles, followed the example of his^ brothers, and at his 
expense I am now supported. My sixth son, I^icholas, has 
done all for me in his power, and more than I could expect 
My seventh son, Thomas, studied with Dr. Thomas Bond 
took a degree at the college, went to Georgetown, South Car- 
olina, and there settled, and is getting into good practice. 
So that, although I have had many difficulties, I am a happy 

* My second brother died an infant. 
16 



242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

mother, and my soul is rejoicing in the Almighty, who has 
blessed me in my children,— 1775." 

She has added on the same : " In the year 1761 I lost my 
honored father, N'icholas Scull. In the year 1765 I lost my 
daughter, Abigail. In the year 1776 I left Philadelphia for 
fear of the British army. In the year 1777 my son John 
was an exile in I^ew York. In the year 1778 my son Nicho- 
las was lost in the Randolph. In the year 1779 my son 
Edward died at Baltimore. And now, my Heavenly 
Father ! I submit with resignation to thy holy will, and be- 
seech thee in thy mercy to grant the affliction which thou 
hast permitted to fall on me may purify my soul and prepare 
me for that day and hour which is swiftly api^roaching.""'^ 

Hearing this summer that Mrs. Catherine Lux, wife of 
George Lux, a daughter of my brother Edward, was in bad 
health at Baltimore, and thinking it probable her native air 
would be of service to her, I went down and brought her up 
to my house. For some time I flattered myself she was get- 
ting well, and frequently told her what really was my opinion, 
that she was not so bad as she supposed herself. She used to 
smile, but made no reply. After she had been with us a few 
weeks, she sent for me early one morning. "When I went 
into her room, she took up a bowl that was near her and 
desired me to look in it. I found it was nearly filled with 
clear blood. She very calmly said, " This has just come from 
my stomach, and I sent for you, my dear uncle, to let you see 
you are mistaken in your opinion about my health." Seeing 

* The following appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette, May 20, 1789: — 
" On Saturday, the 9th inst., departed this life after a short illness, in the 
80tL year of her age, Mrs. Mary Biddle, of this city. The following Monday 
her remains were can'ied from her son's house, James Biddle, Esquire, in 
Chestnut Street, to Whiteniarsh Township, attended by her friends and* 
relatives, and there interred in the family burying ground. 

" She was afiectionate — ardently affectionate — liberal and benevolent in her 
sentiments, cheerful and gay in her disposition and temper, sociable and 
agreeable in her conversation and company, averse to dissimulation of every 
species ; added to all, she possessed the advantage of a clear and intelligent 
understanding, and was favored with an uninterrupted enjoyment of health, 
till she reached a period of life in which years are truly venerable." 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 243 

me extremely affected, she begged me not to be uneasy about 
her, that she was perfectly easy herself, that death had no 
terrors for her, that all her prospects of happiness in this 
world were gone, and that she looked forward with pleasure 
for the hour she was to be united to her father, mother, sister, 
child, and her other relations and friends who had already 
left this world. Finding I was speechless with grief, she 
took ray hand, which she pressed to her bosom, and said every- 
thing she could think of to console me. It was a long time 
before I was composed enough to leave this dear, unfortunate 
girl, who a short time before was one of the liveliest and 
most entertaining of her sex. Her husband was at this time 
at my house. Sometimes I pitied him, at other times his 
conduct was such that it was with difficulty I could keep my 
hands off him. She departed this life about a month after 
the bleeding I have mentioned, in the twenty-sixth year ot 
her age, retaining her composure and her senses to the last 
moment of her life. A few days before the death of Mrs. 
Lux I lost a beloved little daughter, about fifteen months old. 

The 17th of April, 1790, Dr. Benjamin Franklin departed 
this life, aged eighty -four years and three months. For the 
last five years of his life I was very .often with him, having 
been two years Vice-President when he was President of 
Council. The last year he was President I was Secretary, 
and from that time until he died very intimate in the family. 
The Doctor was certainly a man of great abilities, but I 
believe not a great political character. He at times made 
inquiries of me respecting the Constitution of Pennsylvania, 
that convinced me he had little knowledge of it whatever he 
might once have had. He was agreeable and entertaining to 
the day of his death, always cheerful, and had some amusing 
anecdote to relate. When he brought forward any thing in 
Council that he wanted carried, he always began by relating 
some anecdote applicable to the business. 

It was not long before he left Europe I believe that he felt 
the stone. When he was troubled with it in Council he 
often mentioned to me that those w^ho lived out the days of 
life must expect to suffer, that most of his present friends 



2-44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

were the sons or grandsons of his former companions, that 
my grandfather, IS'icholas Scull, Surveyor-General of Penn- 
sylvania, was one of his most intimate friends. He was 
justly beloved and esteemed by all who knew him ; notwith- 
standing his age his death was sincerely regretted by me. 
When it was mentioned in Council, the members of the 
Board, out of respect to his character, agreed to carry his 
corpse to the grave. This was mentioned to the family, who 
were much pleased with the ofter. A difference, however, 
between two of the members of the Board prevented it. The 
Doctor often mentioned it as his opinion that we were the 
happiest people in the world. He used to say the reason 
why we had not so many old people as in Europe in propor- 
tion to our numbers, was that sixty or seventy years back 
there were but few born in the country. He thought no 
people in the world lived to a greater age than the Americans, 
or enjoyed better health. 

In October, 1790, came on the election for Governor, the 
first under the new State Constitution. General St. Clair was 
the Eepublican candidate, and General Mifflin, the Constitu- 
tionalist, for although General Mifflin, a short time before, 
had been considered a staunch Republican, he had by some 
means given offence. Indeed it is a very difficult matter for 
any one in a public situation to act in such a manner as to 
please all his party, but it must, however, be acknowledged 
that General Mifflin was not remarkable for his prudence. At 
the head of the Republican party were Robert Morris, 
Frederick A. Muhlenberg, Col. Miles, and some other gentle- 
men, who published an address to the Republican electors, 
recommending General St. Clair. Great exertions Avere made 
by both parties. The Republicans were unfortunate in their 
choosing General St. Clair, who although a worthy man, was 
but little known in the State. Indeed I do not believe any 
man they could have set up would have carried the election 
against Mifflin, who had all the Constitutionalists in his 
favor, and a good many personal friends among the Repub- 
licans, yet if they had set up Miles or Muhlenberg the}'^ would 
have had a much better chance of succeeding. The Repub- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 245 

licans, since called the Federal party, have always been the 
most wealthy, and generally the most respectable of our in 
habitants, but they never make those exertions that are made 
by the opposite party, especially on the election ground, the 
most important place for exertions to be made. Having a 
strong personal attachment for General Mifflin, I did every- 
thing in my power before the day of election, by writing to 
my friends in the different counties, to promote his interest, 
and on the day of election I was upon the ground from the 
time the poll opened until it was closed. He was chosen by 
a very large majority. 

As the powers of the Supreme Executive Council expired 
with the old Constitution my office of course became extinct ; 
however, from the warm friendship that General Mifflin had 
ever expressed for me (having frequently declared there was 
no man in the world he loved and esteemed half so much) 
I had not the least doubt he would offer me the office of 
Secretary to the Commonwealth, an office that many of the 
members who formed the Constitution thought unnecessary. 
And I believe there would not have been such an office in 
the Constitution if it had not been for some of my friends 
in the Convention. It was thought by many that it would 
be better to give the Governor a Private Secretary. This 
was my own opinion, and what I recommended, but those 
spoken to by me knew I would not accept the office of 
Private Secretar}'^, and wished me in office. Some thought 
it of little consequence whether there was a Secretary to the 
Commonwealth or Private Secretary, but my friends and 
myself were mistaken in General Mifflin. He wished to 
appoint A. J. Dallas, Esquire, a gentleman of the Bar, to 
whom he was attached, and from whom he perhaps expected 
services that I could or would not perform. I do not 
mean by this any reflection on Mr. Dallas, for I never knew 
anything improper in his conduct in any way whatever. I 
blamed the Governor because he had not been candid, and 
spoken to me on the subject. This he told me some time 
afterwards he wished to,do, but was afraid from the warmth 
of my temper that I should say something to affront him, 



246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

and that he would make any sacrifices rather than have a 
difterenee with me. He at last sent three or four gentlemen 
of the Legislature, our mutual friends, to speak to me. The 
moment they spoke to me on the husiness they came about 
I told them if the Governor thought my consent necessary 
to the appointment of a Secretary, as they appeared to think, 
he was at liberty to do as he pleased, that I cared nothing 
about the office, and despised him ; and made use of some 
other harsh expressions. However, I was softened, and my 
resentment subdued a good deal, when they told me he was 
very unwell and wished to see me. I did not call on him, 
but a few days afterwards he came to see me. He was much 
affected, and said he was under obligations to me he nevfer 
could forget, and that there was nothing he would not do to 
serve me. After this visit we parted on better terms than 
we were before. His mind appeared to be relieved. This 
difference with General Mifflin occasioned me at the time a 
good deal of uneasiness. It was, however, fortunate for me 
that it happened, for he was at that time frequently embar- 
rassed for money, of which he was extravagant and thought- 
less. On these occasions he always applied to me. When 
this coolness happened I insisted on a settlement, and the 
balance due being paid me. It is probable, had we remained 
on good terms, that we should never have had a settlement, 
certainly I should not have been paid. As I now kept 
myself at a distance from him he could not ask me for the 
loan of any money, or indeed to render him any services. 
At this time my intention was to give up all thought of any 
office, and take a voyage to sea. From the number of friends 
I had amongst the inhabitants I knew it would be easy for 
me to get the command of a good ship, and the consignment 
of her cargo. This I certainly should have done in the 
spring of 1791, although it was extremely disagreeable to 
Mrs. Eiddle and the rest of my family, if it had not been 
for the death of Judge Bryan, of the Supreme Court, who 
died suddenly the beginning of this year. The day after his 
death the Governor sent to request me to call on him, and 
when I went, to. my great surprise, he told me he had 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 247 

appointed Edward Sliippen, Esquire, who was Chief Justice 
of the Court of Common Pleas, in the room of Judge Bryan. 
As the Governor had declared to all my friends and written 
nie that he would give me the tirst vacant place that should 
happen, I expected he would have appointed my brother 
James to the office held by Judge Bryan, and given me the 
Prothonotary's office.* I told him rather bluntly what my 
expectation was, and left the house immediately. He came 
to the door and called me back ; he was very much agitated, 
and I was convinced he was sorry he had been so precipitate. 
He said his wish was that my brother James should be 
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and I should have the 
office of Prothonotary. I told him he must know the office 
Mr. Shippen held was worth very little, and my brother 
should not, with my consent, accept it. "With this I left 
him, neither of us well pleased. Indeed I felt much dis- 
satisfied with him, and now would have preferred going to 
sea to any office he could give me. Soon after we had parted 
the Governor called on my brother, and this best of men 
agreed to the arrangement he wished to make. I insisted, 
however, upon my brother receiving the emoluments of the 
Prothonotary's office until a further provision was made for 
the office he was to have, which was soon after done. The 
office of Prothonotary was not much with the heavy tax on 
it. My friends in the Legislature had the tax taken off; it 
amounted to between four and five hundred pounds per 
annum. The Governor told me some time after sending me 
the commission that he would have appointed my brother 
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, but he thought it 
would be of advantage to me for him to preside in the 

* In a letter before* me, dated January 17, 1791, among other things he 
says : "I shall be solicitous to evince my zeal for your honor and interest ; 
and as it cannot be long before I shall have it in my power to serve the pub- 
lic, and gratify myself, by inviting you to some station at least as respect- 
able and beneficial as the office of Secretary, I fondly trust that the present 
explanation will effectually prevent any interruption of the harmony that has 
hitherto distinguished our intimacy, or any diminution of our reciprocal 
esteem and the good opinion which we have entertained of each other." 



248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Common Pleas, Indeed if it had not been for my brother 
I never would have undertaken to do the duties of an office 
I was so totally unacquainted with. With his assistance I 
soon acquired a knowledge of the business. The Governor 
sent with the commission the following letter : — 

My Dear Sir: It gives me sincere pleasure to enclose a 
commission, appointing you to succeed your brother, as Pro- 
thonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia 
County. 

I am, with sincere regard, 

Your friend, 
Thos. Mifflin. 

Philatla., 1st Feb'y, 1791. 
Charles Biddle, Esq. 

Although after this we visited each other, and the Gover- 
nor never had any large party without inviting me, and did 
everything in his power to keep up our former intimacy, I 
did not feel that attachment to him I before had. I believe 
when a man knoius he has not been treated well, nothing 
done afterwards will effect a perfect reconciliation. Some 
years afterwards when General Mifflin got into difficulties, 
I made every exertion in my power to serve him, and did 
serve him essentially. 

Mrs. Potts, an intimate friend of Mrs. Biddle, being ad- 
vised by her physician to go to the seashore with a sick 
child, and Mrs. Biddle wishing to take our children there, I 
went to take care of them. We left the city in June, 1792, 
in a small shallop, commanded by a drunken fellow who had 
no person with him belonging to the shallop but his son, a 
lad about sixteen years of age. The first night we anchored 
near Marcus Hook. The night was so dark that a brig 
bound up passed so near that we could have jumped on 
board of her. As the heat below had oblio-ed Mrs. Potts and 
Mrs. Biddle to be on deck, they saw the danger they had 
been in, and were very much terrified. Had the brig ran foul of 
us, it is highly probable we should have foundered. Instead 
of anchoring in the channel, we should have gone close in 
shore. This I mentioned to the skipper when he came to, 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 249 

but he said there was no danger, and I did not apprehend 
there was much. Owing to head winds, calms, and a drunken 
skipper, we were three days before Ave reached Cape May. 
At this time the accommodations at the Cape were bad. The 
shore is good to bathe, some think better than Long Branch. 
I, however, do not think so. The surf at the Branch is 
higher, but I never heard of any accident there. As to the 
sharks that are seen there, they are very difierent from those 
in the West Indies. I believe no more danger is to be appre- 
hended from them than from a sturgeon. 

We had been but a few days at the Cape when the revenue 
cutter anchored otf there. Mr. Dulaney, the collector of the 
customs, Mr. John IS^esbit, and General Robinson were on 
board. As my business required my being in town, I ac- 
cepted a pressing invitation given me by these gentlemen to 
go up with them, and to return in a carriage for Mrs. Bjddle 
and the children. In going up the bay, upon the appearance 
of a squall, I told Captain JSIontgomery, who commanded the 
cutter, that he had better shorten sail, for I was sure it would 
blow very heavy. However, he did not apprehend any dan- 
ger, and thought it unnecessary to take in any of his sails. As 
it approached I was convinced it would blow hard, and ad- 
vised him, as he was not well, to go below and leave the com- 
mand to me. ^s soon as he was in the ca])in, I took in all 
sail as fast as possible, intending to come to anchor, but be- 
fore we could let go the anchors, the squall took us, and with- 
out any sail set we had nearly overset. In order to bring her 
up, we let go both anchors, and as- the cables were not 
clinched to the mast, owing to the ignorance of the crew, 
they had nearly run out end for end. This tornado did a 
great deal of mischief at the wharves in Philadelphia and 
elsewhere. The gentlemen on board mentioned afterwards 
that it M^as happy for them they had persuaded me to come 
up with them. 

Shortly after, I sat off for Cape May in a carriage. I took 
with me my son William, then about eleven years of age. 
At three o'clock in the afternoon of the day we left town, we 
came to a fork in the road where I was at a loss which way to 



250 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

take. However, as there was no house near, and the day ex- 
cessively hot, it would not do to wait. I took the one that 
appeared to he the most frequented. We had not gone far he- 
fore we came across a tree that had been blown down across 
the road. To get the carriage over this tree myself and ser- 
vant worked very hard for half an hour. About a mile from 
this place we came to a house. The people here told us the 
road we were going led to a mill ; that at the forks we should 
have taken the other road. This was grievous news to us, 
who, as well as the horses, were almost dead with fatigue. 
However, there was no remedy, we were obliged to again 
encounter the tree, and what was worse, found it would be 
impossible to get to the stage we intended to lodge at. We 
were therefore forced to stop at a miserable log house, 
where they were obliged to have a smoke at each door to 
prevent their being tormented with the mosquitos. The 
poor people furnished us with a bed upstairs, which I believe 
was the only one they had. The heat of the weather, and 
the smoke that was made in the room to keep out the mos- 
quitos rendered it a shocking place. In the middle of the 
night I was awakened by William. I jumped out of bed and 
found he was almost suffocated. Taking him in my arms to 
a window, the fresh air soon revived him. Finding it in 
vain to try to sleep we both dressed ourselves and went be- 
low, where we remained the rest of the nig] it. JSTo person 
unacquainted with these insects can form an idea what a tor- 
ment they are to people not used to them and not provided 
with means to keep them oif. They are worse on this road 
than at any place I ever was at. Probably it may be better 
when the country is cleared of wood. The next night we 
got within a few miles of Hughes, the house where the fam- 
ily staid, and early the morning after reached there. Find- 
ing Mrs. Biddle anxious to be at home, and a pilot boat, go- 
ing up two days after, I took one of the boys with me in 
her, and Mrs. Biddle and tlie family set off at the same time 
in the carriage. Having a fair wind, we were soon up. Mrs. 
Biddle suffered as much coming up in the carriage as we did 
going down. They missed the road, and if it had not been 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 251 

for a man accidentally meeting them, they would have had 
to remain all night in the woods. 

In April, 1793, we had an account of Mr. Genet, the French 
Repuhlican Minister, at Charleston. His motive for landing 
at Charleston and travelling by land thence to Philadelphia, 
must have been to find out whether the Americans were 
inclined to join the French in the war in which they were 
then engaged, and to endeavor to make them lielieve that 
the Republic of France was fighting for the liberties of man- 
kind against the despots of Europe. He was very cordially 
received at Charleston, and at every place he stopped at on 
the road. At Philadelphia, a town meeting was called to 
congratulate him on his arrival amongst us. Curiosity took 
me to the State House, without knowing who had called the 
meeting, or what the intentions were of those who had called 
it. As soon as I got there. Dr. Hutchinson, Mr. Sergeant, and 
others, wlio had proposed the meeting, requested me to take 
the chair. I would have declined it, but that some of my 
friends were anxious that I should not do so, thinking, as they 
afterwards told me, that by being in the chair I should pre- 
vent some violent measures being adopted ; and it is probable 
my being in the chair was in this respect of some service. It was 
agreed to present an address to Mr. Genet; and David •Ritten- 
howee, J. D. Sergeant, Esq., Dr. Hutchinson, A. J. Dallas, Peter 
S. Duponceau, Esq., and myself were appointed to draft one. 
The meeting then adjourned until the next afternoon. In 
the morning the Committee met at my house, each having 
an address drawn up, from which we made out one. In the 
afternoon there were so many met at the State House, that 
we were obliged to adjourn to the yard, where, as chairman, 
I read the address. Like all addresses brouo:ht forward in 
this manner, it was highly approved, and a committee con- 
sisting of about fifty, besides those who drafted the address, 
appointed to deliver it to the Minister, who had taken up his 
quarters at the City Tavern in Second Street. We proceeded 
from the State House on our way there, attended by a great 
concourse of people. As we were going, Hutchinson, who 
was fat enouo;h to act the character of Falstatt' without stutt- 



252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

ing, sent several messages to me, to beg I would not go so 
fast ; however, thinking such exercise of service to him, every 
time he sent to me, I mended my pace, so that he was almost 
exhausted when he got into the house. Mr. Genet spoke 
tolerably good English. He was in high spirits, and gave 
us a most cordial reception. He told us how much gratified 
he was, and how pleasing it would be to the citizens of 
France to hear what a friendly reception he had met with 
from their brethren of America, and that he would answer 
our address the next day. When we were coming away the 
people assembled in the streets gave three cheers, and dis- 
persed without doing any mischief, although some were much 
inclined to have a frolic. 

Shortly after this, there was formed in the city a Democratic 
Society,* of which David Rittenhouse, Esq., was chosen Presi- 
dent, and myself one of the Vice-Presidents. As I had never 
attended the meetings of those who proposed forming such a 
society, and as, when it was mentioned to me by Dr. Hutch- 
inson who was one of the principal promoters of it, I told him 
my opinion was that it would do more harm than good, I 
was much surprised at finding my name among the list of 
oflicers, which I did not know until it was published in the 
newspapers ; nor then until some of my friends, the morning- 
it M^as published, told me they were sorry to see my name as 
an officer of such a society. Others thought I could be of 
service by moderating some of the most violent of the party 
who were inclined to do anything that would involve us in a 
war with Great Britain. Mr. Rittenhouse, I believe, never 
attended any meetings. Both our names were set down by 
Dr. Hutchinson, who wished us to belong to the society. As 
most of my friends \^x^re Federalists, and some of them vio- 
lent ones, I Avas sorry the Doctor had proposed me as a mem- 
ber. However, as I knew he did not do it with any intention 
of giving me pain, I freely forgave him. 

The first of June a dinner was given to Mr. Genet at 
Oeller's Hotel. It was attended by men of all parties, for at 

* This was the first Democratic Society formed in the United States. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 253 

that time many who detested the proceedings of the French, 
did not wish to see them subdued, not knowing what would 
be the consequence to this country. At this entertainment I 
was appointed President, and Doctor Hutchinson Vice-Presi- 
dent. On one side of me was Governor Mifflin, on the other 
Mr. Genet. Many toasts were given expressive of our love 
for our sister Bepublic. The bonnet rouge was passed from 
head to head round the table, and many patriotic songs, made 
to celebrate the day, were sung, some of them truly ridicu- 
lous ; they served, however, to increase our mirth. The 
ISIarseilles Hymn was sung by My. Genet, and we had several 
other French songs. The day ended wi thout any disturl)ance.'^ 
I was much pleased soon after this, at hearing the Marseilles 
Hymn sung on bojird the frigate Ambuscade. Her yards were 
manned, and every person on board joined with the utmost 
enthusiasm. I believe there never was a more animating 
song composed. An American lady (Mrs. Montgomery, 
sister to the wife of Governor jNIcIvean) was at Bordeaux 
when some troops marched from there singing this hymn. 
She told .me she could hardly refrain from taking a musket 
and joining them. Mr. Genet is a handsome, agreeable man, 
but, like most of his countrj-men, of a hasty disposition. He 
frequently wrote and said what he afterwards severely re- 
pented. Being invited to dine the 4th of July with the 
Society of Cincinnati, he returned a very polite answer, but 
mentioned he could not sit down at table with the Count de 
Xoailles. As the Count was a member of the society, such 
an objection gave great offence to many of the members, who 
were determined if IMr. Genet remained in the country he 
should never again be invited. A few years before he would 
have thought it a great honor to be at a table with the Count, 
such an honor as he never had an idea of. I suppose as 
Ambassador from the French Republic, he thought it an 
official duty to make the objection. 

* This banquet created a great sensation throughout the country. An ac- 
count of if is given in Westcott's valuable history of Philadelphia. See, also, 
Hilldreth, vol. iv. Mr. Peter S. Duponceau wrote a French Ode for the 
occasion, which was sung by the company. 



254 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

In July I went to Long Branch, and lodged at Col. Green's 
with a number of my Federal friends, who npon my first 
arrivino; at the shore, congratulated me on mv havino; the 
honor of being elected Vice-President of the Democratic 
Society ; however, finding it was a subject I did not like, they 
soon dropped it. I left the shore before daylight on the day 
the action took place between the Ambuscade and Boston. 
Had I known of the Ambuscade's going out to attack the 
Boston, I should certainly have waited to have seen the action, 
which with glasses could be plainly seen from the shore. 
The contest was unequal, the French frigate being much 
superior to the British. The gallant commander of the Bos- 
ton, Captain Courtney,' fell in the action. The Ambuscade 
received so much damage that it was a long time before she 
could be repaired ; so that if it had not been for the loss of 
Courtney the action was favorable to the British, for this 
French frigate had done much injury to their trade, and 
would have done much more but for this battle. 

A few days after I returned from the seashore, Mrs. Jones 
and Judge Jones (most valuable friends who lived in Mont- 
gomery County) with Mrs. Biddle and myself, went to the 
Yellow Springs.'^ Returning from there we first heard there 
was a fever in Philadelphia, that occasioned great alarm 
among the inhabitants. Among other deaths, that of Mr. 
Peter Aston was mentioned. He was an old acquaintance of 
mine, whom I had sworn as a juryman the day before we left 

* Once before I was at those springs. A friend of the fumily had received 
an express from there, informing him his wife hiy at the point of death. He 
applied to my mother to let me go with him, as he was going in his chair, 
and was obliged to set off in the night, and could not see well enough to 
drive. As I was not more than thirteen years of age, my mother was not 
inclined to let me go ; however, 1 was eager for the journey, and got her 
consent. Our friend was a remarkably cheerful man, and sang most of the 
night. When we arrived his wife was much better, at which he expressed 
great pleasure, and appealed to me how much he had suffered on our way 
upon account of his wife's indisposition. My real opinion was that he would 
have been much better pleased to hear that she had moved off. ^e should 
have given me my lesson before he made the appeal, for from my answer 
the good lady thought he had not suffered much. — Author's note. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 255 

town, when he was very hearty and cheerful. After the 
jury had delivered their verdict he came to me, and begged 
I would not so often put him on the jury list ; little think- 
ing, poor fellow, how soon he should leave us. Upon hearing 
of the fever I left Mrs. Biddle under the care of Mr. and Mrs. 
Jones, and set out for town, being very uneasy about the 
family. On my way I met a number of people moving out, 
all of whom gave a melancholy account of the ravages of the 
disorder. I had promised Mrs. Biddle to send the children 
out to her, and to be out soon myself, but such was her uneasi- 
ness that the next morning after my coming to town, although 
it rained excessively hard, she came home. My office being 
in my house, and people coming to it from the infected parts 
of the city, made it dangerous to the family, whom I was 
determined to send immediately out. Mr. Wm. Lardner, 
who had the year before married a sister of Mrs. Biddle, 
having a pleasant seat on the Delaware, and giving *us a 
pressing invitation, we sent the children there, Mrs. Biddle 
declaring she would not leave the city without me. It was 
in vain I pointed out the necessity of my staying, she was 
deaf to everything. Although almost afraid to let him come 
into my house, I sent for Dr. Hutchinson, to advise with him 
about removing. Before Mrs. Biddle he just mentioned that 
there was a dangerous fever in town, and that we had best 
leave it, but wlifen I w^ent to the door with him, he told me 
he had never seen anything so alarming, and desired me to 
get Mrs. Biddle out of town immediately, and to go mj'self 
as soon as I could. He said, that as a physician he thought 
it his duty to remain, and let the disorder be ever so bad he 
would not leave town. I walked a little way down the street 
with him. At parting he gave me his hand, and said it was 
doubtful whether he should see me again. I laughed at him, 
little expecting this w^ould be the last time we should ever 
meet. It was some days before I could arrange matters so as 
to leave the city, before which this worthy man was taken 
with the disorder, and died in a few days. He was a very 
able physician, and one of the best of men. A student of 
his, who staid with him, said he went to all the poor people, 



256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

who sent for him. Visiting one of them, who was a poor 
old woman, he caught the infection. This student was with 
him, and said when the Doctor opened the door of the sick 
woman's room, there was such a stench came from it, that 
he ran out of the house. The Doctor went in, opened the 
windows, and sat some time in the room. That night he was 
taken with the fever which proved fatal to him. His death 
increased the alarm ver}^ much, and occasioned many to leave 
the city. He had a great deal of practice, and was esteemed 
and respected hy men of all parties that knew him.* 

It is not easy to describe the consternation of the inhabi- 
tants at this time ; the streets were almost deserted. I have 
stood at my door at noon, and looking up and down the 
street for some time, could not see one person in it. Being 
myself used to see people in fever in the West Indies, par- 
ticularly at Port an Prince, I did not feel that uneasiness 
many of my friends did. I thought then, and still think, 
that a person who had been long in the West Indies was not 
as liable to take the fever as those who had irever been there, 
and therefore should not have thought of leaving the city 
but for my family. John Vannost, Esq., a gentleman of the 
Bar, who had lived with me from the time I was first appointed 
to the office of Prothonotarj-, agreed to stay in the house, 
which I committed to his care, and went to Mr. Lardner's, 
who did everything in his power to make our situation agree- 
able. A faithful black boy, born in the familj^, staj^ed with 
Mr. Vannost. The hoy should have left town with me, but 
he preferred remaining, and it was the general opinion at 
that time that the blacks did not take the fever. This boy 

* Dr. James Hutchinson was born in Bucks County in 1752, and served 
during the RevoUition as Surgeon in the Continental Army, and Surgeon- 
General of Pennsylvania. He was one of the first trustees of the University 
of Pennsylvania, and Professor of Chemistry in that Institution up to the time 
of his death. He took a warm interest in the politics of the State, and was 
an active member of the then rising Democratic party. Eminent as a prac- 
titioner, he fell a victim to his noble eilbrts in behalf of tlie humbler class of 
his fellow citizens in September, 1793. His first wife, who died without 
issue, was Lydia Biddle, first cousin of Charles Biddle, and sister of Col. 
Clement Biddle. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 257 

used to meet me three times a week about a mile from town. 
I would have ridden into town, but this could not be done 
without giving great uneasiness to my own family as well as 
Mr. Lardner's, and it would have been very ungenerous to do 
anything that would give pain to a family who behaved so 
kindly. 

Dr. Hutchinson died the sixth or seventh of September. 
A few days after, when it was thought almost certain death 
for any person to go to Bush Hill (the place where all those 
with the yellow fever were carried). Captain Stephen Girard 
and Mr. Peter Helm oifered their services to attend there. 
Captain Girard was a Frenchman, married and settled in 
Philadelphia many years ; Peter Helm, a native of the city. 
Both of them I knew well. With Girard I had long been a 
manager of the Marine Society, and Mr. Helm lived in my 
neighborhood. Their services should ever be remembered 
with gratitude by the inhabitants of Philadelphia. Mr. Helm 
told me after the fever was over that when he went out to 
Bush Hill he never expected to return. The generous and 
benevolent Girard was at the time, and I believe has been 
ever since, of opinion that the fever was not contagious. He 
therefore did not apprehend so much personal danger as Mr. 
Helm. Too much praise cannot be given them. There were 
many others who behaved with great firmness and benevo- 
lence. Some wKo were thought to be afraid of nothing were 
much terrified at this disorder; among others an old friend of 
mine, Commodore Barry, an ofiicer of di^stinguished bravery, 
retired to his country seat, and would sufi'er no person from 
the city to come near his house. Captain Sharp, a member 
of the Cincinnati, who had served. in the artillery all the 
Revolutionary War, was a man of und(5ubted courage. In 
the beginning of the fever, his wife complained one night of 
being unwell. Concluding she had the fever, he immediately 
jumped out of bed, and shut himself up in another room. 
He was frightened into a fever, and died in a day or two. 
His wife was soon well. Mr. J. A. Lewis, whom I have 
formerly mentioned, a very honest, faithful clerk of mine, was 
a Hessian who came to America with General Knyphausen, 
17 



258 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

and was in all the principal actions fought during the war. 
At the peace he stayed in America, married a worthy woman, 
by whom at this time lie had several children. Mr. Vannost 
having informed me that Lewis was very much terrified at 
staying in town, I told him if he wished to leave town, as 
there was very little business in the office, he was at liberty 
to go whenever he pleased, and I advised him to go, telling 
him his wages should go on the same as if he stayed. 
Willing, however, to make something at night by writing, 
he said he was very much obliged to me, but he would re- 
main in town. However, a few days after I had spoken to 
him he wrote me a note informing me that in going home 
the evening before he had seen twelve co7yuses going to be 
buried, which had terrified him so much that he had hired a 
carriage and was just going into the country. No man, I 
believe, in battle would behave with more courage than Lewis- 
There were many other instances of men of great bravery 
who were as much or more terrified than those I have men- 
tioned, and some who were generally thought to be so timid 
that they would have fled as soon as there was any danger, 
stayed in town and distinguished themselves by their courage 
and benevolence. Melancholy instances have been mentioned 
of people deserting their relations and friends, and no doubt 
some, driven by fear, left those whom they ought never to 
have left. I, however, knew of no instance where it was 
done, and believe it was seldom the case. 

Some very sorrowful, and some ludicrous scenes happened 
during the fever. A friend of mine, who had moved into 
the country early in the disorder, being much afraid of 
taking the fever, was very cautious of any person coming 
out of the city. Riding one day in his chair, he overtook 
a gentleman walking towards town, and invited him to ride 
with him, which the gentleman accepted. My friend, find- 
ing him a very agreeable, intelligent man, when he got near 
his own house, pressed the stranger very much to go in, and 
dine with him. He excused himself, saying he had just 
been out to see a sick friend. This alarmed my acquaintance. 
" And where were you going in such a hurry ?" " To Bush 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 259 

Ilill." "The devil you were! I hope you have not been 
there lately ?" " Oh yes ! I am Dr. Devoze, one of the physi- 
cians who attend the hospital." A highwayman with a 
pistol pointed at him would not have frightened him half 
as much. lie soon got rid of the Doctor, and never after- 
wards invited a stranger to ride with him. 

It was generally supposed, and it was my opinion, that 
the fever was brought to Philadelphia by the unfortunate 
people who were obliged to leave Hispaniola.* Very few 
of those people, or the black people, took the fever. 

What added greatly to the distress of those unhappy 
persons who took the fever was the difterence of opinion 
among our most eminent physicians respecting the proper 
treatment of it. What one recommended another would 
condemn, so that all confidence in them was lost. I believe 
that in general too much medicine was given. I was 
reminded at this time of an anecdote I had often heard' Dr. 
Franklin tell respecting a malignant fever that was in Bar- 
badoes, which swept off great numbers of the inhabitants. 
At last they were out of medicine, and it was expected they 
would all die. It happened, however, otherwise ; for after 
the medicine was gone every person that had the disease 
recovered. I believe bleeding, keeping the body open, and 
the patient cool and clean, was the best method of curing 
the disease. I had determined, if taken with the disorder, 
to take very little or no medicine. The great quantity, if 
the patient recovered from the fever, ruined the constitution. 

On the return day of the court, in September, my brother, 
Judge Biddle, went into the city to open and adjourn the 

* Mr. Henry Sickel and myself were appointed to collect money in the 
ward we lived in for those distressed people, which disgusted me against 
raising money in this way. One gentleman, Mr. Samuel Blodget, gave us 
a check for two hundred dollars. One of his neighbors, a much richer 
man, with a good deal of persuasion, gave us four. To avoid giving offence 
we went into every house. Many people gave us cheerfully, more than 
they could afford. To some of tliem 1 would much rather have given than 
have taken anything. Others, who were rich, would give nothing. — 
Author's note. 



260 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

court. I intended to have gone with him, but he requested 
me not to go, and, as Mr. Vannost was there, and little, if 
any, business to be done, I remained out of town. Before 
he went he made his will, which, without mentioning at the 
time what it was, he left with me. At court there were 
only five gentlemen of the Bar : Jonathan D. Sergeant, Jacob 
Bankson, J. R. Howell, John Todd, and Charles jSTeatly. 
Mr. Sergeant was a man of large fortune and great worth ; 
he staid in town from motives of benevolence. Messrs. 
Howell and Todd were worthy men. I believe they remained 
in the city in expectation of being employed in writing 
wills. For this purpose they went to any persons that sent 
for them. They died shortly after the meeting of the court, 
and I believe took the fever from j^ersons whose wills they 
drew. Mr. Todd told my brother when the court adjourned 
they had best leave the Court House as soon as possible, as 
the committee appointed for conveying persons with the 
fever to Bush Hill sat there. 

I believe, that giving an emetic early in the disorder, mod- 
erate bleeding, keeping the body open, and the patient cool 
and clean, with good nursing, was the means of saving many 
who had the fever. The great quantity of mercury that was 
given by some of the physicians, if they recovered the jDatient 
from the fever, ruined the constitution. Although four thou- 
sand died of this fever, there were not a great many of the 
old inhabitants. They were mostly foreigners. Having 
lived long in the city, and being Prothonotary, occasioned 
my knowing most of the citizens. There were not more than 
eighty whom I knew, and many of these were natives of 
Europe. During the whole time of the fever, the markets were 
well supplied, and I believe none of the country people took 
the fever, except a very few who imprudently went to see 
their sick friends or, from curiosity, to improper places. I 
mention imprudently going to see their sick friends, because 
they could render them no assistance. 

In November, the fever was so far abated that the citizens 
flocked to town as fast as they had before left it. People 
who had little or no acquaintance with each other before they 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 261 

left the city, appeared rejoiced at seeing each other. The 
loss was soon forgotten in the joy of getting back to the city. 
In the year 1794, the excise had occasioned so much dis- 
turbance in the Western country, that it was thought neces- 
sary to send commissioners there to endeavor to bring the 
people to a sense of their duty. They had driven off Major 
Lenox, the Federal Marshal, who had been up serving pro- 
cesses against the delinquent distillers, and burned the house 
of General Neville, who was inspector of the district. At the 
attack on it. Major McFarlane, who commanded the insur- 
gents, was killed. After this they declared they would 
oppose any force brought against them. Governor Mifflin 
spoke to me about going as one of the commissioners on the 
part of the State ; however, I knew there were others better 
acquainted with the people of the Western country, and who 
would probably have more influence than I should. Chief Jus- 
tice McKean and General Irvine were the two who went on 
the part of the State ; Mr. Bradford, Attorney-General of the 
United States, James Ross, one of the Senators of the United 
States, for Pennsylvania, and Jasper Yeates, one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, went on the part of 
the' Federal Government. I wrote a letter to the printer at 
Pittsburg, informing him that I had ever been a friend and 
advocate for the people of the Western country, but that the 
opposition they had given to the laws of their country had 
been such that every man who valued the peace and happi- 
ness of the country must lend his aid to bring them to jus- 
tice. After his return, Mr. Brajlford told me that Mr. Scull 
had shown him the letter, that he had it published, and that 
it had a good eifect. If a longer time had been given the 
commissioners, I have no doubt but that the people would 
have submitted peaceably. However, as they did not sub- 
mit within the time limited, it was thought necessary to send 
an armed force into the country. The two principal promo- 
ters of the disturbances were David Bradford, a lawyer, a 
native of Maryland, and John Marshall, who had been sherift' 
of Washington County, and formerly in the Legislature. 
They were anxious for the repeal of the Excise Law (as I be- 



262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

lieve a majority of the State was) and encouraged the people 
to oppose it, but had no intention of carrying matters to such 
lengths as they had gone. But you cannot say to such peo- 
ple as they had to deal with, a hardy, warlike race, thus far 
you may go, but no further. It was not in their power to 
govern those who acted under them. After several meetings 
were had about this business, it is probable if Marshall or 
Bradford had advised moderate measures they would in- 
stantly have lost their influence, been insulted and abused, 
and perhaps shot. It unfortunately happened that in gene- 
ral, men of prudence and influence avoided these meetings, 
and left the most violent to do as they pleased. Smilie, Find- 
ley, and Gallatin* were much blamed. I do not, however, 
believe they deserved any censure, but on the contrary, that 
they did everything in their power to jirevent the people from 
acts of violence. It is possible that their being suspected of 
fomenting the disturbances, made them more anxious to put 
a stop to them than they otherwise would have been. 

Much complaint was made by the prisoners of the treat- 
ment they received from General White, who commanded 
the party that brought them to Philadelphia. They said, 
when they were first arrested, he had them confined in a 
damp cellar, tied back to back, and kept there from Thurs- 
day night until Sunday morning with hardly any victuals 
or drink. Certainly, none of them deserved such treatment, 
and some of them were brave fellows who had served 
with reputation during the Revolution, and were afterwards 
proved to be innocent of the crimes laid to their charge. 
When they reached the ferr}^ at Schuylkill they were ordered 
to put a piece of paper in their hats, with which they were 
paraded down Market Street. It was pretended that this 
was done to distinguish them from their guards, but their 
dress was sufiicient to make them known, without this dis- 

* I was well acquainted with these gentlemen. The two former I have 
mentioned before as members of the Supreme Executive Council. Mr. 
Gallatin is allowed by his enemies to be a man of superior talents. They 
were all of the same political party. — Author's notk. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 263 

graceful badge. I believe no complaint was made by the 
prisoners of any officer but General White. 

Hugh H. Brackenridge, in order to justify himself from 
charges made against him, published "Incidents of the In- 
surrection in the Western Parts of Pennsylvania." It appears 
from Mr. Brackenridge's own account that he acted a double 
part, which he thought his situation at that time not only 
justified but rendered meritorious. There is no doubt but 
that personal motives, more than public justice, actuated 
some of his enemies. In one part of his book he says, " At 
Parkinson's Perry I fell in with Benjamin Parkinson carry- 
ing down a board, with an intention to fix it upon one of the 
liberty poles. I read the inscription ; it was : — 

" ' Equal taxation, and no excise. 

No asylum for traitors and cowards.' 

" Thought I, there are two of us, then, that ought t'o be 
away ; for you are a coward, and I am a traitor, for I do not 
mean to go to war ; and if you do, you will not fight." In 
another part he mentions his being consulted by one Fergus 
Ferguson, collier, who was taken up as an insurgent. " I 
was of opinion that as his employment and residence were 
subterraneous, he could plead the not belonging to the sur- 
face of the earth ; or, if in strictness this would not bar the 
jurisdiction of the court, it would at least have weight with 
the Executive, to direct the Attorney-General to enter a nolle 
prosequi, inasmuch as he had been under ground through 
the summer, and had not heard of the insurrection until it 
was over." Mr. Brackenridge is now, 1805, one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court of Pennsj-lvania. 

Major Lenox, the Marshal, who went up to serve the writs, 
is a native of Xorth Britain, a very worthy, good fellow. 
He was a captain in the American service, and was taken 
prisoner at Fort Washington. 

About the middle of April, 1796, in riding out to dine, I 
felt in the upper part of my back something like a small 
boil. In the evening it gave me some pain; however, I went 
to bed without saying anything about it, expecting it would 



264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

soon be well. In the night the pain increased and made me 
very restless, and it was painful all the next day, but not so 
much SO as to prevent my going to court and attending to 
other business. Being much fatigued when I went to bed, I 
slept soundly until near daylight, when I was awakened with 
a most excruciating pain which made me jump out of bed 
and order a light. Mrs. Biddle looked at the supposed boil, 
and thought if it was opened with a lancet, that it would 
immediately relieve me. I sent for Mr. Wolf, who dressed 
me, and who was a good bleeder, and ordered the servant to 
tell him to bring a lancet. He came just at daylight, when 
going to the window I pulled off my shirt and desired that 
he would immediately open the boil. He told me it had a 
very strange appearance, that it looked purple and green, and 
that he did not think it was in a proper state to be opened. 
He begged me to send for the doctor — he went himself — and 
Dr. Wistar, understanding from Mr. Wolf that he had left 
me in great pain, came immediately. Upon looking at the 
supposed boil he told me it must not be opened, that it would 
confine me some time, and directed a poultice of bread and 
milk to be immediately made, and applied to it. He gave 
me some drops in which I believe there was laudanum. The 
next day he told me it was an anthrax, and must be cut out. 
I lay with my back poulticed for near three weeks before it 
was supposed to be fit to cut. Previous to this he advised 
calling in Dr. Kuhn, who attended every day with Dr. Wistar. 
After this Dr. Wistar told me that he should not have occa- 
sion to use the knife again. He was, however, mistaken, for 
in a few days he and Dr. Kuhn having examined my back, 
informed me that it would facilitate the cure if I was again 
cut, and Dr. Wistar was proceeding to say something about 
a person who had fallen a sacrifice to his obstinac}', when Dr. 
Kuhn stopped him. Dr. Wistar said he would perform the 
operation that day, or put it oft' some days. I told him if he 
thought it necessary I would prefer his doing it immediately. 
He went home, brought his students with him and his in- 
struments, and began. This was the longest in performing 
and most severe of any of the operations he had performed. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 265 

The sweat ran down my liollow clieeks, and n^y shirt was as 
wet as if it had been in the river. I did not, however, utter 
a complaint. The Doctor was pleased to say that he never 
saw any one bear cutting so well. Soon after this I began to 
mend, and in a few days was well enough to ride out. The 
second or third time of my going out I had the curiosity to 
go into a neighbor's and get weighed. 'My long confinement 
had reduced me from one hundred and eighty to one hundred 
and thirty-four pounds weight. A sore mouth, such as young 
children have, I had after the anthrax was cut out, and for 
which the doctors gave me a great deal of vitriol. To this I 
imputed the loss of several of my teeth, which loosened and 
came out without any pain. Standing one day at the 
door waiting for the carriage, to go riding, being so weak 
that I was obliged to be supported by -a servant. Captain 
Welsh, an old acquaintance, came up to me and exclai^ied, 
"My God! is this Captain Biddle?" I shook him by the 
hand, and told him it was the remains of Captain Biddle, 
whom he formerly knew in the Bay of Honduras. " And is 
it possible," he again exclaimed, " that such a beautiful young 
man as you then were should be so much altered." His ex- 
clamation about my beauty^ wreck as I was, made me laugh. 
There must have been a great alteration from the time my 
honest friend ha,d seen me in the Bay ; then I was llorid, 
young, strong, and active, with an excellent set of teeth. He 
now saw me pale and weak, with the loss of some of my fore- 
teeth, and reduced to a skeleton. !N^otwithstanding vnj 
wretched appearance, my spirits were good, nor were they 
depressed during my confinement, which probably occasioned 
my recovery. A few days after my first leaving the house, 
an intimate friend called to see me. When I informed him 
of my being better and expecting soon to leave the room, he 
expressed much satisfaction, saying he had understood from 
the doctors, one or the other of whom he saw every day, 
that they had very little hopes of my recovery. Such per- 
sons should never be permitted to come into a sick-room with- 
out being cautioned as to what they may say. They dci)ress 
the spirits, by which means they may injure a sick person 



266 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

materially. At one time I was of opinion myself that my 
disorder would prove fatal to me, in. consequence of wliich I 
made my will, w^rote a letter to Governor Mifflin requesting, 
should I not survive my complaint, that he would appoint 
some friend to my office who ^vould collect the fees that 
would he due my family, and made every other preparation 
in my power for my departure. Although very few people 
had more to make life desirable than myself, being in good 
circumstances, happy in my famil^^ and friends, yet knowing 
the uncertainty of life, I prepared to suffer with fortitude a 
removal from this world, which, however, I never found so 
bad as many people have represented jt. In fact, I believe 
very few have had less reason to complain of the world than 
myself, having my full share of the pleasures and comforts of 
life. During my confinement Dr. "Wistar would frequently 
agree to let me have meat or butter, but Dr. Kuhn v/ould 
never consent to any indulgence whatever. After riding out 
for some time my brother James purchased a fine green turtle 
for me which I had ever been very fond of, but when it was 
mentioned to Dr. Kuhn he requested me not to taste it. I 
was very weak for a long time, and in the fall had some 
apprehensions of being confined again. It, however, went 
off, and I have felt nothing of it up to this present year, 1805. 
There being some bank troubles about this time, it was 
said that Governor Mifflin had overdrawn on the bank for a 
considerable amount. He was so much affected by the report 
that he took to his bed, and sent to request me to call on 
him. Having some particular business to attend to, I did 
not wait on him that day. The next morning he sent Col, 
Febiger, the Treasurer, who told me the Governor was very 
anxious to see me. When I went he was much affected, 
saying he was afraid I had left him, and would not call to 
see him. I soon eased his mind. What occasioned the 
report was that his relation, John Mifflin, who was Cashier, 
and on whom he entirely depended to keep his bank account, 
had let some notes lent the Governor by Chief Justice 
McKean and the Surveyor-General, Brodhead, lie over when 
they should and would have been renewed had these gentle- 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 267 

men been applied to. In money mattervS few men were more 
careless than Governor Mifflin, If he had what he wanted 
for to-day, he thonght not of to-morrow. If he had a sum 
by him that he knew he would be called upon for the next 
day, he could not refuse it to any of his friends who called 
to borrow. By this unfortunate weakness he was continually 
kept in want. 

In the year 1797 I met with an irreparable loss in the 
death of my brother James. He went from town the 
thirteenth of June to hold a court at Norristown, and 
returned home in the evening. I called at night to see him. 
His daughter told me he was well, but complained of being 
very much fatigued, and had gone to bed. In the night he 
was taken extremely ill, and in two days we lost him. A 
better man I believe never lived. To me he had ever been 
the most affectionate brother. ISTo father could have taken 
more care of me than he did. Hardly anything could have 
been so severe a blow to me as this loss. He was remark- 
ably cheerful and good-tempered. I hardly ever remember 
seeing him out of temper. He was careless of his health, 
and in money affairs very few men more so. I believe no 
man ever lived more beloved than my brother James. Two 
years before his death he went to Long Branch with an old 
schoolmate, Mu. Tench Francis. The day after they got 
down they stripped to go into bathe. Just as they were 
going in Mr. Francis stopped my brother, and said to him, 
" James, are you sick ?" "■ No." " Do you think bathing 
will make yon feel better?" "It cannot, for I never was 
better in my life." " As tliat is the case," says Mr. Francis, 
" let us put on our clothes, for I am of your opinion, that, 
being perfectly well, we cannot be better by bathing." 
Accordingly they dressed themselves, and did not go into 
the sea all the time they were at the shore. 

The loss of my brother having contined me a good deal to 
the house, I thought it would be of service to take a journey, 
and being advised by a friend who had been at BalLstown 
Springs, and who intended going there again, to take a 
jaunt there, I left town the first of August, taking my son 



268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

William with me. We got to Paulus Ilook that evening;, 
and intended to stay there all night, but finding the mosqui- 
tos very troublesome we crossed over to Is^ew YorK, where 
we arrived before ten o'clock. I do not think riding this 
distance in one day that a person feels more, perhaps not so 
much, fatigue as going forty or fifty miles in the same time ; 
at any rate it is so with me. We were some days in New 
York before we could get a passage to Albany. During our 
stay at ISTew York we passed our time very agreeably among 
the hospitable inhabitants, to several of whom I had letters 
of introduction. I intended before we left the city to have 
called upon Mr. William Seton, a very respectable merchant, 
who, I had some reason to think, was the same Mr. Seton 
who behaved so friendly to me when at St. Lucar in the 
year 1763, but the continual engagements I was under made 
me conclude to postpone my visit to him until my return 
from Ballstown. 

We embarked on board one of the Albany sloops, and 
were tolerably well accommodated. I do not think this the 
best way to go from New York to Albany. The most agree- 
able, and often the most expeditious way, I believe is to go 
to Poughkeepsie by water, and then to take the land stage. 
We arrived at Albany two days after a great fire that 
destroyed a considerable part of the town. We were received 
and entertained very hospitably bj^ the gentlemen to whom 
we had letters, particularly by Judge Taylor, who did every- 
thing in his power to make the place agreeable. There is 
nothing remarkable in Albany except it is the great number 
of stages. You can be accommodated with one here for 
almost any part of the continent. After remaining a few 
days here we went to Ballstown, distant from hence about 
thirty-seven miles,, and a tolerably good road. Ballstown 
is surrounded by hills. I do not think it is an agreeable 
place, at least it was not so during the time of my being 
there. The houses were too much crowded for an invalid to 
receive much benefit. This may be remedied by building 
more houses, but you cannot bring the springs from the low 
ground, and there is no pleasant place to ride or walk to. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 269 

We one day made up a party to spend a day at Saratoga 
Springs. At the tavern there we had a most execrable 
dinner ; the victuals were bad, and the cooking worse. An 
old acquaintance of mine, Col. Willet, of New York, who 
was one of the party, during the time we were dining kept 
praising the dinner, declaring he had never seen such a one 
before (this we all believed to be true), and said we ought to 
come often there to dinner. The landlord, who thought 
him serious, said he should be always glad to see him, and 
very gravely assured him that he should have as good a 
dinner whenever he came, provided he would give him notice 
of his coming. From what was mentioned to me while at 
Ballstown, I believe the waters are very good in some dis- 
orders, particularly^ in the grflvel. A very respectable gentle- 
man, James Reed, of Philadelphia, whose veracity could 
not be doubted, told me that before he came to the Springs 
he was so much afflicted with the gravel that his life was a 
burthen to him ; that by drinking the waters, which he did 
in greiit quantities, he was perfectly cured. It was eight 
years before I saw him there that he first visited the Springs, 
and he had no return of his complaint. He came this season 
to accompany a friend. 

The most agreeable place to spend some days in the summer 
that I know is I^ong Branch. There you have good living, a 
fine country to ride or walk in, a number of vessels constantly 
in sight, and generally good society. I have heard Major 
Lenox, who has been at most of the watering places in 
England, say there is none in that country so pleasant as 
Long Branch. If Major Lenox had any partiality, it would 
be in favor of England. 

After being a week at Ballstown, we heard that the yellow 
fever had broken out in Philadelphia. As soon as it was 
confirmed to me by a letter from Mrs. Biddle, I set off imme- 
diately in the stage for Albany, where I arrived in the even- 
ing, and set off* the next day for Kew York. Had it not 
been for the fever in Philadelphia, I should have stopped a 
day or two with my old friend, Gen. Armstrong, who lived 
a small distance from the road, but the reports of the fever 



270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

being very bad, induced me to go on without stojDping. The 
road over the Highlands was at this time very bad. Near 
Tarrytown we were shown the tree under which the militia 
guard were playing cards when the unfortunate Major Andre 
was passing. If he had not been off" his guard at the time, 
or had he pushed on Avhen they challenged him, it is proba- 
ble he would have escaped, an event few Americans would 
have lamented, although the conduct of Paulding, Williams, 
and Van Wert, who apprehended him, was highly merito- 
rious, and they well deserved the reward given them. For 
my own part, I sincerely wished he had escaped. 

It was late in the night when Ave reached isTew York. 
The next morning I waited on Col. Burr, and requested he 
would go with me to Mr. Seton's. W^hen we called, one of 
his sons told us that he had been taken very ill the day be- 
fore, that the doctor who attended him was afraid it was 
something of a paralytic stroke. I now regretted exceedingly 
my not calling on him on my way to Albany. I left a note 
with Mr. McCormick for Mr. Seton, requesting to know if 
he was the same gentleman whom I had known at Mr. David 
Ferrier's, at St. Lucar. Mr. McCormick, who was soon after 
in Philadelphia, informed me that Mr. Seton was the same 
person I supposed him to be, that he remembered me per- 
fectly well, and lamented very much his not seeing me, and 
was very angry that they did not bring me into his room. 
He told Mr. McCormick that he had such a strong impres- 
sion of the little fellow (as he called me) that he was sure he 
would immediately know me. In this I suppose he would 
have been mistaken, for thirty -four years will make some alte- 
ratio7i in most men, and as I was a boy when Mr. Seton knew 
me, it is not probable he would have remembered me. 

Having staid in town the morning to see Mr. Seton, in the 
afternoon I crossed the river and set oif in the stage for Phila- 
delphia. At this time there was no difficulty in getting a 
passage there. Most of the inhabitants who could do so, 
were leaving the city, and very few going in. The dismal 
accounts we heard on the road made me very impatient to 
get there. We stop23ed at Mr. Lardner's, about ten miles 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 271 

from the city, and there I found Mrs. Biddle and some of the 
children, all well. I intended to ride into the city myself 
the next day, but Mrs. Biddle, when she found she could not 
persuade me to stay out, would go in with me. Just before 
we got to the door, two boys were going along the street, and 
one by accident pushed the other against the horses, which 
knocked him over, and I believe hurt him much. His compan- 
ion helped him up, and was leading him down the street, when 
I got out of the carriage and was following them in order to 
bring him into the house, but Mr. Lewis, my clerk, ran after 
me and begged me to return, for a few doors below a person 
had just died of the fever. The city at this time presented a 
most melancholy appearance. We only staid to take out 
some articles of clothing of which we were in want, and to 
give directions to Mr. Lewis and a servant, who preferred re- 
maijiing in town to leaving it (for I would not at this time 
even request a servant to stay). "We crossed the bridge at 
Schuylkill, and went that evening to my friend. Judge 
Jones's, who, as well as Mr. Lardner, had sent his carriage 
down as soon as he heard of the fever being in town, to bring 
the family out to his house. Mr. Jones had before done that, 
when many people in the country were afraid to see any per- 
son from the city, and Mr. Lardner would have done the 
same. Such friends are invaluable. My clerk, ]\Ir. Lewis, 
declared he was hot the least afraid of staying in town. The 
black girl, however, told us he was very much alarmed, and 
she expected he would not stay long. It appeared that she 
was right, for a few days afterwards he begged me to get 
him a place in Germantown, which I immediately did. 
There was very little doing at the otfice, and it was contrary 
to my inclination that he staid in town. I had informed 
him that go when he would, his salary should be continued. 
We passed our time between Mr. Jones's and Mr. Lardner's 
until the latter end of October, when the fever abating we 
moved into town. If it had not been for what we felt for 
the suiferings of those in the city we should have had an 
agreeable time of it, for it was remarkably healthy in the 
vicinity of the city, and the weather very fine. Those from 



272 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the city, who could aiFord it, and the people in the country 
generally, subscribed liberally for the distressed persons in 
the city. We had some little alarm after we moved into 
town, one of our neighbors having died the day after we got 
in. The cold weather, however, soon set in, and our fears 
were over. 

In 1798 the yellow fever again visited us, and all ray family 
except Mrs. Biddle, who would not leave the town without 
me, staid at my friend Jones s. Soon after, when the fever 
got to be very bad, I was obliged to go with her to Mr. 
Jones's. What hurried us from town was a woman who came 
into the oflice for a deed. As she looked pale and sickly, I 
desired her to sit down, inquired if she would take anything, 
and what part of the town she lived in, and if she was unwell. 
She replied no, she was only fatigued, that her husband was 
at the hospital, and she had been attending him. " And 
what is the matter with your husband ?" " Why, the doc- 
tors say he has the yellow fever," Although alarmed my- 
self, I could not refrain from laughing at two men who hap- 
jDened to be in the ofticc on business, and who ran out as fast 
as they could, not waiting to get their papers. When they 
were gone I told the woman it was of no consequence to her 
to have the deed at present, that after being at the hospital 
she should not be running about town, and to go immediately 
and take care of her husband, and see that he wanted for 
nothing that she could do to restore him to health. She ap- 
peared sensible that she was wrong in leaving him, and went 
oil'. When she was gone my honest clerk, Lewis, exclaimed, 
" There, Mr. Biddle, now I will be bound she has given it to 
us. We have got it." I felt uncomfortable, but told him 
not to he afraid ; as Ave neither of us had touched her, there 
was no danger of her giving us any disorder. If there was 
danger we escaped it. 

The fourth of August this year there was an attempt made 
to rob the Bank of Pennsylvania, but the villains were 
frightened before they had done any mischief. After this 
the two porters belonging to the bank were armed, and 
ordered to sleep in the bank. The last of August ISTath'l 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 273 

Potter, one of the porters, died of the yellow fever. At 
this time no person in whom confidence could be placed 
would sleep there, so that Thomas Cunningham, the other 
porter, remained alone in the bank. The second of Sep- 
tember, early in the morning, Mr. Annesley, the runner, went 
to the bank about some business, when to his great surprise 
he found the back door and the cash vault open. He called 
Cunningham, who either was, or pretended to be, asleep. 
When he came down he expressed as much surprise as 
Annesley, declaring he had never heard the least noise. The 
runner went to Mr. Smith, the cashier, who lived a short dis- 
tance from town, and informed him of the discovery he had 
made. Mr. Smith sent for the president, who immediately 
came to town. Upon their going to the bank they found 
that the locks must have been opened by false keys, as the 
wards were not the least injured. The money taken in gold 
and notes amounted to something more than one hundred 
and sixty thousand dollars. Everything was done by the 
officers of the bank and the directors that was possible to 
discover the villains who committed the robbery. Several 
persons were taken up in the city on suspicion, among others 
Patrick Lyon, a smith, who had been employed about the 
locks. Lyon had gone oif a short time before the robbery to 
Cape Henlopen. When he heard that he was suspected of 
being concerned* in the robbery he came up to town and 
delivered himself up, notwithstanding which many of the 
directors believed that no other person could have picked 
the locks but Lyon, who is certainly very remarkable for his 
skill in the business. However, his coming to town made 
me suppose him innocent. He was for a long time confined 
in gaol. 

After some time one Isaac Davis, a house carpenter, who 
had been employed doing some jobs about the bank, was 
observed to alter his mode of living. He left off work, Y>re- 
tending he had made a great deal of money by an adventure 
he made to some of the West India Islands. He next set up 
his carriage and lodged a considerable sum in the Bank of 
Pennsylvania. It was also found he had deposited money in 

18 



274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

the Banks of the United States and North America. When 
this was ascertained by the cashier little doubt was enter- 
tained of Davis being the robber. The cashier, without ex- 
citing any suspicion in Davis, got him to his house ; the presi- 
dent was there. By threats and promises of a pardon he 
acknowledged his guilt, and declared that no person was 
concerned with him but Thomas Cunningham, the porter, 
who was taken ill with the fever and died in a few days. 
Davis delivered up all that he said he had, which, upon 
counting, was found to be something more than one hundred 
thousand dollars. They then took Davis before Robert 
Wharton, the Mayor, when he made a further confession. 
He said that the day Cunningham was taken ill, he sent for 
him and delivered him the remainder of the money in his 
possession. The president and cashier then went to Davis's 
house where they obtained what he had, which together with 
what was before received, amounted to within three thou' 
sand dollars of what had been stolen. His horses and car- 
riage were also taken. Davis appears to have remembered 
the old saying, " honor among thieves," for he expressed 
much more unwillingness to give up what he called Cunning- 
ham's share than his own part of the booty. 

At first no suspicion whatever was entertained of Davis or 
Cunningham, and if Davis had behaved with prudence his 
villainy might have remained a secret forever. 

Davis and Cunningham were both born in Chester County. 
Cunningham was recommended by a number of respectable 
people to the directors of the bank, and probably if he had 
never been in it, would have supported the character of an 
honest man. It is my opinion, as well as that of others, that 
a young man from the country is not so proper to be employed 
in a bank, as they are more strongly tempted to commit a rob- 
bery than those who have been in the habit of seeing much 
money. Judge Peters says all the great and strange people 
we have in Pennsylvania are from Chester County. He kept 
a list of all he knew ; at the head of it was Governor Mclvean ; 
the next was Mrs. Ginnes, a very celebrated young woman that 
was with our army most of the war, and who behaved well in 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 275 

lier care and attention to our sick and wounded officers. She 
had a trial in our court a few years since, and while there a 
person was speaking. She inquired of a man near her who 
he was. She was answered, " One of the gentlemen of the 
Bar." "Oh, no I" says she, "that cannot be, for I know all 
the gentlemen of the Bar." 

Purchasers of property being often plagued about old 
judgments that were in my office for which there was no 
limitation as to the time of their being a lien upon land, I 
applied this year, 1798, to the Legislature, and procured an 
act declaring that no judgment should be a lien upon land 
for more than five years, unless revived by scire facias. This 
act was the occasion of my losing a great many costs, for 
many people never ])aid until there was a seai'ch, and judg- 
ments found against them. However, I considered the law 
of great public benefit, and therefore did not regard any loss 
that would accrue to me from it, and, as public officers or 
their sureties (or if dead their heirs or executors) were liable 
to a suit at any length of time, I had it inserted in the act 
that the suit should be brought within seven years from the 
time in which the cause of action should have happened. I 
knew the, heirs of a security upon an administrator's bond 
paid a great number of years after he had been dead, when 
had he or the person for whom he had been surety been living, 
it is probable fliey could have satisfied the parties that 
brought the suit that there was no cause of action. 

I was determined this year, 1799, to purchase a place 
within a short distance of town, that if we were obliged on 
account of yellow fever to leave it, we should not have occa- 
sion to trouble our friends. Ten acres of land with a small 
house being for sale in February, by the sherifi", situated in 
Islington Lane,* which is a little more than three miles from 
town, I purchased it. 

The infamous and menacing conduct of the French at 

* Islington Lane still retains its name, running from Ridge Avenue, near 
Twenty-sixth Street, past Glenwood Cemetery and Odd Fellows' Cemetery 
to the Lamb Tavern Road. What was once "three miles from town" is 
now twelve miles inside of the northeastern limit of the citv. 



276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

this time to our Ambassador had aroused the resentment of 
our country against them. Before this time their horrid 
cruelty to man}^ of their own best citizens, particularly to a 
number of excellent females, had occasioned a general disgust 
to them. It was suggested that it would be well for those 
excused by age from militia duty to associate to co-operate 
with the militia. This was mentioned to me by an old friend 
of mine, who appeared very anxious that something should 
be done by the old citizens. He was one who had been in 
Mr. "Wilson's house when it was attacked, and said he was 
afraid from the number of foreigners that something of the 
kind would' again happen. Approving of the idea, I did 
everything in my power to promote it. We had several 
large meetings at Dunwoody's tavern, and I was very much 
pleased to see such a number of hardy, jovial veterans as we 
mustered, many of whom, and some were upwards of seventy, 
were fit for almost any military duty, and would have fought 
as well as any men in the world had they been called into 
action. We had the following articles of association drawn 
up, and unanimously agi'fed to. 

" To preserve our country from insult, outrage, and dis- 
honor, to preserve her from a foreign yoke, and to maintain 
our freedom and independence, the Congress and Executive 
of the United States are adopting the most vigorous and 
energetic measures, the Governor of our State has issued a 
proclamation for enrolling, organizing, and equipping the 
great body of the militia, our sons have already associated in 
arms ; at so awful a crisis. We, the subscribers, citizens of 
the United States, and inhabitants of the city and liberties 
of Philadelphia, above the age prescribed by law for the per- 
formance of militia dut}^, holding ourselves indispensably 
obliged to contribute to the public safety to the utmost of 
our ability, do agree, 

" First, That we will, as early as possible, provide ourselves 
each with a good musket, bayonet, cartridge box, and twenty- 
four charges of powder and ball, and keep the same in good 
order at our resj)ective houses, or such other place as may be 
hereafter agreed upon. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 277 

" Second, That when any company have associated together 
in sufiieient number we will proceed to chose one suitable 
person as captain, one lieutenant, and one second lieutenant, 
by ballot or otherwise, as shall be agreed upon ; and such 
other ofhcers as may be found expedient. 

" Third, That when the companies are completed the officers 
shall apply to the Executive for such commissions as it may 
be deemed proper to grant them, and make a tender of this 
association for the defence of the city and liberties, and sup- 
port of the civil authority. 

" Fourth. That if the militia and volunteers of the city 
and liberties of Philadelphia be drafted or ordered to actual 
service at a distance from home, we will make diligent 
inquiry, in our respective wards or townships, into the state 
of their families, and administer to their comfort and relief 
in the best manner in our power." 

Mr, Richard ISTorth and myself went about in the ward we 
lived in, North Ward. It was requested that I would sign 
it tirst, which I did. Those in the ward that signed were, 

Charles Biddle, Peter Cross, 

John Capp, " Joseph Donnaldson, 

Jacob Miller, David Sickel, 

John Fretwell, Ty. Matlack, 

William BeTll, John Kebler, 

Mich'l Gunkle, Christopher Byerlt, 

John Spooner, Richard Rundle, 

John Evarhart, Sr., John Steinmetz, 

Jacob Eckfeldt, Benj. Severn, 

John Perot, Joseph Horsfall, 

Gervas Hall, John A. Lewis, 

Martin Summers, The Rev. Doctor Smith 

Michael Albright, signed in this way : 

Christian Kouch, Wm. Smith, D.D., wishes 

John Little, to associate with his old friends 

Charles Souder, Sr., in any character, lay, clerical 5 

or mixed, as they may think he 

can be useful. 



278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

We talked of forming a troop. If we had we should most of 
us have been like the old City Troop, very few of whom after 
the war could mount without going to a fence or horseblock. 
The fever breaking out soon after prevented our getting 
organized. At the last meeting advertised at Dunwoody's 
the fever was so bad in town that no one attended but my- 
self. My old friend, who first spoke to me on the business, 
reminded me of what I had heard in the beffinnino; of our 
Revolution of a Kew England colonel. The colonel was met 
going from his regiment when it was engaged. The person 
that met him inquired where he was going. He said he had 
" set them at it, and, as the Major understood fighting better 
than he did, he thought it best to come away." So my old 
friend set us at the business, and then left us, for he never 
attended after the first meeting. Mr. Levi Ilollingsworth, a 
very public spirited merchant, was on this occasion extremely 
active, as he always was when anything that he thought 
would be of service to his country was to be done. 

It was in the month of Februar}^ this year that my friend 
Commodore Truxtun 'captured the French frigate Insurgent. 
When it is considered that he had not an officer on board but 
young lads, who, as well as most of the crew, had never seen 
a gun fired in anger before, this must be considered as a very 
gallant action. His manccuvering so as to lose but few men 
showed his skill as well as courage. After the capture he 
wrote me an account of it, and informed me that he had ap- 
pointed Mr. Henry Bainbridge, who married his eldest daugh- 
ter, agent for himself and crew. As I considered Mr. Bain- 
bridge a very good young man, this appointment gave me 
pleasure ; it was not long, however, after this before Mr. 
Bainbridge called upon me to inform me of his being very 
much embarrassed, ai)d that he found he could not meet 
his engagements. I advised him to immediately stop pay- 
ment, which is what every man should do when he finds 
himself in such a situation. He told me afterwards, that 
some months before he had found this must happen, in con- 
sequence of which he had called upon a respectable merchant 
on whom Commodore Truxtun had given him a credit, 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 279 

to consult what he had best do, and that he had advised him 
to go on as long as he could, perhaps something would turn 
up. This advice he unfortunately pursued until he called on 
me, when he had very little left, having lost a great deal on 
notes he sold. Although I considered Mr. Bainbridge as a 
good young man, I knew he was not prudent, and therefore 
thought it a duty in me as the friend of Commodore Truxtun 
to inform him of Mr. Bainbridge's situation. I therefore 
wrote immediately to the Commodore, who was by this time 
arrived at JSTorfolk. The letter I showed to Mr. Bainbridge. 
The Commodore wrote me by return of the post to beg I 
would take upon myself the agency. Although I did not 
wish to have anything to do with it, my friendship for the 
Commodore would not permit me to refuse it. 

Commodore Truxtun set up Mr. Bainbridge in the grocery 
business, and put into his hands ten thousand dollars, besides 
o-ivino; him a credit for near three thousand dollars more. 
It would have been better for both had he only given him 
one thousand dollars. Mr. Bainbridge is sober and indus- 
trious, but having so much money in his hands, he entered 
into foolish speculations that he would not have thought of 
had his funds been more limited. Putting too much money 
into the hands of young men frequently occasions their ruin. 

On settlement^ for the prize money, I found that nineteen 
out of twenty had sold their shares for a mere trifle, some for 
not more than ten dollars ; the shares for the Insurgent 
amounted to one hundred and six dollars and eighty cents 
each. This perhaps could in some measure be remedied, if 
the agent was not allowed to pay the crew on power of attor- 
ney, without some proof of the seamen not being defrauded. 

During the fever while at my place in the country, a man 
came there who said his name was Wni. "Williamson, that 
he had been a marine on board the Constellation, that in 
coming from Georgetown, Maryland, wdiere he lived, he 
had lost his prize ticket and did not know what to do, that 
he was in great distress, not having a farthing, and begged 
me to let him have his prize money. I asked him respecting 
the officers of the ship, all of whose names he knew, and men- 



280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

tioned several circumstances relating to the capture. I asked 
him whom he knew in Maryland or Virginia. lie said Gen- 
eral Washington knew him very well, and he could get any 
security to return the money I gave him. Having not the 
least doubt from the plausible manner in which he spoke 
that what he told me was true, I gave him what money was 
in the house, and after he had his dinner he went oif, saying 
he would go back to Maryland. A few days after, happen- 
ing to be in town, he called again, just after one of the officers 
of the Constellation went out. At this time he over-acted 
his part. He said he came to town to see a friend and was 
taken sick, and then had a fever. I told him if that was the 
case to go immediately away, and come when the fever was 
over. He wanted to get something, but I obliged him to go 
away. Had he not said he was sick, he would have got more 
money. A few days after a man called with a power of 
attorney, from a woman Avho had taken out letters of admin- 
istration on the estate of Williamson. I mentioned to this 
man the circumstance of Williamson being at my house. He 
appeared surprised, said he would write to the woman who 
had sent him the letters of administration. Shortly after, to 
my great surprise, another man came and said he was the 
Williamson who had been in the Constellation, but had lost 
his ticket. I told him of the man who had been with me 
and received part of the money, and of the letters of adminis- 
tration. He knew very well the woman who took out the 
letters of administration. He said it was reported he was 
dead, and he supposed she believed it. The man he could 
give no account of, but thought it was some fellow who had 
heard him complain of the loss of his ticket. This man looked 
like an honest country lad. He said he was a blacksmith by 
trade, and as the fever was nearly over he would get work 
in town, that he did not want anything until he brought 
some of the officers who knew him. He accordingly went to 
work, informing me where he could be found. Soon after 
one of the officers being in town, I sent for the blacksmith, 
who was the true Williamson, and he had found his ticket, 
which on his producing I paid him his prize money. The 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 281 

fellow that came to my house I could never find. It is prob- 
able he left the State. 

My house in Islington Lane being too small, I had to build 
an addition to it. The building went on slowly until the be- 
ginning of August, wdien we had a report of the yellow fever 
being in town. This induced us to hurry the carpenters. It 
was, however, the last day of the month before we could any 
how be accommodated, and then it was very badly, for we 
had but one room below to sit in, one above, and a garret for 
the family to sleep in ; no outside doors hung, and the wind 
coming in from all quarters. However, being all in good 
health and spirits, we made out tolerably well, and as we 
had ten or a dozen carpenters at work, we were every day 
getting better. When we first moved out, my neighbor, Mr. 
Moylan, very politely offered me an empty house of his near 
ours; we, however, concluded it was better to stay where we 
were. While we were in this situation, I heard some per- 
son at the gate inquiring for me; it was my old friend. Com- 
modore Truxtun, who was on his way to visit General Wash- 
ington, who had written to him, requesting he would pay 
him a visit. He had left the stage at Frankford, and hired 
a carriage to call on me. As it rained very hard, I could 
not think of his leaving me that day, and we prepared a 
berth for him in our room below. He' staid with us three or 
four days, when I took him as fiir on his way as General 
Robinson's, on Naaman's Creek, from whence he went in the 
stage as far as Mount Vernon. Shortly before this, Commo- 
dore Truxtun thinking himself injured by the President 
ranking Commodore Talbot above him, had resigned his com- 
mission in the navy. By the appointments General Wash- 
ington made, Talbot ranked higher than Truxtun, but there 
were only three frigates fitted out, which were commanded 
by Barry, iSTicholson, and Truxtun, and their commissions 
were numbered one, two, three, and Talbot not going into 
the service for a long time afterwards, Truxtun thought Tal- 
bot should not rank above him ; and I believe he was right. 
Had it been determined by a board of officers, neither could 
have complained. President Adams, I believe, seldom con- 



282 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

suited any one ; he determined the rank against Truxtun, 
who immediately sent in his commission. I am sure Mr. 
Adams did what he thought was right, for he knew Truxtun 
well, and had a great regard for him. 

Knowing it would be a loss to the navy for Truxtun to 
leave it, I went with General Wilkinson up to Trenton to 
speak to Mr. Stoddert, the Secretary of the ISTavy, about get- 
ting him again into the service. Mr. Stoddert made some 
difficulty on account of the other captains, who he thought 
would resign. I told him it was not probable they would, 
that although most of them" were very brave men, as a naval 
officer none of them were equal to Truxtun. "Wilkinson and 
myself after some time persuaded the Secretary to send Trux- 
tun his commission, and it was understood that Talbot and 
he were not to be on the same station. 

At this time our Ministers or Commissioners, Messrs. 
Ellsworth and Davis, were here preparing to embark for 
France. Mr. Hamilton, and some others, were at Trenton, 
who, with Messrs. Pickering and Wolcot, were endeavoring 
to prevent their being sent.* However, the President 
thought it right they should go, and nothing could move him 
to change his opinion. For my own part, I thought then, 
and still think, it was the best thing we could do. It was 
certainly our business to be at peace with France if it could 
be done without submitting to improper terms. Taking this 
method, could not, in Mr. Adams, proceed from want of 
spirit, for none possessed more firmness than he did. Besides, 
he had promised he would send ministers out when it was 
assured they would be well received, and those assurances 
were given. 

This fall Chief Justice McKean was elected Governor in 
the room of Governor Mifflin. I wrote to him for a renewal 
of my commission as Prothonotary. I believe it was some 
time before he made up his mind on the subject, for my com- 
mission did not come down until Ions: after the other officers 

o 

* This refers to the well-known intrigue to rule the administration of 
President Adams by the disaffected faction in the Federal party. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 283 

in the city had received theirs. I knew he was very much 
provoked at some severe pieces written against him by my 
nephew, Mr. Marks John Biddle. However, Governor McKean 
and myself had always been upon good terras, and I had a 
high esteem for him, believing him to be a very honest man, 
although a very violent one who had no command of his 
temper, but spoke whatever he thought upon all occasions. 
General Craig and Mr. Graydon, for whom I had formerly 
procured the office of Prothonotary, dined with me soon 
after the election. Mr. Graydon had shortly before married 
the daughter of Charles Pettit, whose son, Mr. Andrew 
Pettit, was married to the daughter of Governor McKean. 
On account of this alliance, and Graydon's merit and talents, 
it was thought he would have a great deal of influence with 
the Governor, which Craig begged he would use for a friend 
of his, whom he wished kept in oflice ; but, to the surprise 
of most people, Graydon was one of the first removed from 
office. This led me to believe there was some truth in the 
report about town, that before the election there was an 
agreement between the Governor and some who had agreed 
to support him, what officers should be removed. After the 
removal of Graydon, and considering the violent pieces of 
my nephew, Mr. Marks John Biddle, and the knowledge the 
Governor had of my intimacy with Mr. Ross, his rival candi- 
date for the office of Governor, it would not have surprised 
me if some person had been appointed to the office held by me. 
My friend Governor Mifflin was obliged to leave town 
soon after the election in consequence of a process taken out 
against him by one of his relatives. He sent to inform me 
of his situation, and to request me to come out to see him. 
He was then at his place at the Falls of Schuylkill. I imme- 
diately went, and found him in bed. At seeing me he was 
very much affected, and I was not a little so myself seeing 
him so different from what he was a short time before sur- 
rounded by his friends or rather his acquaintances, and in 
high spirits, as he was elected a member of the Legislature, 
who were to meet soon at Lancaster. I thought it best he 
should go there, and advised him to it. " But what, my 



284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

dear friend, shall I do when the sessions are over?" "That 
must he thought of afterwards, when we meet at Lancaster, 
which will he shortly." He went there the next day. 
Shortly after he had gone to Lancaster, Mr. Anthony Morris 
(formerly Speaker of the Senate) called on me. He told me 
he was very sorry to hear I had blamed him on account of 
the writ taken out against the Governor, that he had nothing 
to do with it. I told him he was misinformed, that I had 
spoken ver}^ freelj" of those who took out the writ, as it could 
answer no good purpose, but never supposed he had anything 
to do with it. This was the last time I ever saw Governor 
Mifflin. He died during the session. His situation preyed 
upon his spirits and rendered his life a burthen to him. 
General Mifflin was below the middle size, and very well 
formed ; his countenance open, cheerful, and agreeable. 
Coming to see me one da}^ he put a young lady and her 
mother from the country, who happened to be in the house, 
to the blush. After looking attentively at the girl, he said 
to her, " any one could tell you to be a Biddle." Had he 
known the mother was present he would not on any account 
have said it, but he really supposed the girl to be my daughter, 
and thought there was a strong family likeness. He was a 
kind, benevolent man. 

On the 14th of December, 1799, died General Washington. 
The loss of this great and good man was most deeply lamented. 
Grief was pictured in every countenance when we had a 
certain account of hife death. I had seen him during the war 
at my brother Edward's, and in camp. When he was in the 
Convention I dined several times in company with him, and 
had the honor of his company to dine with me. When he 
was elected President of the United States, he lived during 
the whole of the time that he was in Philadelphia nearly 
opposite to me. At that time I saw him almost daily. I 
frequently attended his levees to introduce some friend or 
acquaintance, and called sometimes with Governor Mifflin. 
The General always behaved politely to the Governor, but it 
appeared to me that he had not forgotten the Governor's 
opposition to him during the Revolutionary war. He was a 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 285 

most elegant figure of a man, with so much dignity of 
manners, that no person whatever could take any improper 
liberties with him. I have heard Mr. Robert Morris, who 
was as intimate with him as any man in America, say that 
he was the only man in whose presence he felt any awe. You 
would seldom see a frown or a smile on his countenance, his air 
was serious and reflecting, yet I have seen him in the theatre 
laugh heartily. Dr. Forrest, who laughs a great deal, 
desired me, one night at the theatre, to look at General 
"Washington. " See how he laughs, by the Lord he must be 
a gentleman." The General was in the next box, and I 
believe heard him.* He was much more cheerful when he 
was retiring from the oiRce of President than I had ever seen 
him before. Commodore Barry, Major Jackson, and myself 
were appointed a committee of the Society of the Cincinnati to 
wait upon him with a copy of an address, and to know when 
it would be convenient to him for the society to wait upon 
him. He received us with great good himior, and laughing, 
told us that he had heard Governor Morris (I believe of I^ew 
Jerse}^) say that when he knew gentlemen were going to call 
on him with an address, he sent to beg they would bring an 
answer. If this were done to him, he observed that it would 

* Anecdotes of Washington, however homely or trivial, are sure to be 
interesting. Perhaps this may excuse the record here of what has no other 
connection with the text. AVithin the memory of the present writer, an 
aged Phihidelphia mechanic being asked if he remembered General Wash- 
ington replied, "General Washington! oh yes, I remember General Wash- 
ington well; T once see General Washington kick a fellow down stairs." 
He proceeded to relate that he and a fellow journeyman were once sent to 
the President's house to do a job of jjainting or glazing. Arriving early, 
they were admitted by a servant-maid who led the way up stairs. Whilst 
ascending the stairs his companion attempted some liberties with the girl, 
who gave a loud shriek as they reached the second story. Immediately the 
General sallied forth from the front room, half dressed and half shaved, and 
demanded the cause of the disturbance. Hearing the girl's story, he rushed 
at the man in a rage and started him down stairs with a violent kick from 
behind; at the same time he cried out, " I will have no woman insulted in 
my house," and called for Colonel Lear to put the rascal out the front door. 

The language of the narrator was more graphic, if less decorous, than in 
the above repetition. 



286 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

save liim a great deal of trouble. He was in Philadelphia a 
short time before he died, and I thought he never looked 
better than he did at that time. He enjoyed remarkable 
health, hardly ever having been confined by sickness. The 
loss of no man was ever more severely felt by his countrymen 
than General Washington. He was called the American 
Fabius, but Fabius was not equal to George Washington. 
He sutiered Tarentum to be pillaged when it was traitorously 
delivered to him, and his opposition and jealousy of Scipio 
rendered the Roman unequal to the American hero. 

The visit of Commodore Truxtun in the fall was a very 
unfortunate one to my family. Two of my sons, James* and 
Edward, hearing so much about the navy, took an inclination 
to enter the service, and although I would not recommend it 
to them it was not disagreeable to me, for if they found it 
disagreeable to remain in the navy they would' be qualifying 
themselves to command ships in the merchant service. As 
to Edward I did not wish him to follow the sea. Although 
but little more than sixteen years of age he was one of the 
best mathematicians in the country. I thought a short cruise 
would be of service to him. I applied to Mr. Stoddert, then 
Secretary of the N'avy, and on the 14th day of February, 1800, 
he sent them both warrants as midshipmen. As they were 
to join the frigate President, then fitting out at Xew York 
for Commodore Truxtun, it was not until July following that 
they were wanted on board the ship. The 5th of July, 1800, 
I set oif with them for ISTew York. It now o-ives me the 
most painful sensations to think of this journey, which was 
the most disagreeable I ever made. A thousand melancholy 
reflections filled my mind, and a hundred times I secretly 
wished some accident would happen to put a stop to it. We, 
however, reached Xew York without any accident the 7th of 
July. My mind at this time was so uneasy that it would 
have given me pleasure to have heard the ship was burned or 
sunk. The day we arrived was excessively hot, and the 
place we lodged at was a tavern near the water-side, and was 

* Afterwards Commodore James Biddle, U. S. Navy. See note E. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 287 

dirty and disagreeable. Soon after our being at the tavern 
Colonel Burr called with a servant to take our baggage and 
insisted on our going to his house. This was a very agree- 
able change to us, and his accomplished daughter (since 
married to Mr. Alston) did everything as well as her father, 
to make the place agreeable. We had every day during my 
stay some gentlemen to dine, among others. General Hamil- 
ton. At this time he and Colonel Burr appeared to be on good 
terms. The General invited Mr. Burr and myself to dine 
with him, but my short stay prevented me. I remained with 
the boys three days, and then left them to the care of Col. 
Burr and Commodore Truxtun. Just before leaving New 
York I sent a note to Commodore Truxtun, of which the fol- 
lowing is a copj : — ■ 

New York, July 9, 1800. 

2)e«r Sii^ : James and Edward, whom I have left with you, 
have ever behaved in such a manner as to gain the love and 
esteem of all their relatives and friends. They have a good 
education, and you, I suppose, will make them good officers. 
They know the advantage of being w4th you, and are in- 
formed that nothing will gratify me so much as meeting 
your approbation, nothing give me more pain than their not 
doing it. The heart of their mother has been torn vdth 
anguish at partiyg with them, and I feel everything that a 
parent, who would sacrifice his life for their happiness, can 
feel. The distress of their mother has affected them both ; 
however, this they will soon get over. I shall only add that 
your care of them will be the greatest favor you can possibly 
confer on me, and will ever be remembered as the highest 
mark of your friendship. 

Yours sincerely, 
Charles Biddle. 

Commodore Truxtun. 

Commodore Truxtun in his answer assured me in the 
strongest terms that he would do everything. 

I left New York very early in the morning. Both the 
boys came with me to the wharf. It is impossible to describe 



288 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

what I felt at taking leave of them. My eyes were not re- 
moved from them, as they stood on the wharf, until out of 
sight, and theirs were fixed on the boat. I had engaged to 
visit them at Amboy, as soon as the ship dropped down to 
the watering place. Accordingly when Commodore Truxtun 
wrote me that the ship was there, I set off with Mrs. Biddle for 
Amboy, about the eighth of August. When near Commodore 
Truxtun's we saw them walking the piazza ; their tender 
mother was ready to jump out of the carriage as soon as she 
had a sight of them. The next day we crossed Staten Island 
to the watering place, a distance of about eighteen miles, and 
went on board the frigate. We found everything in excel- 
lent order, and their mother was more reconciled to their go- 
ing than she was before she saw how well they were accom- 
modated. Tom,* a faithful black who had been born and 
brought up in the family, agreed to enter on board the frig- 
ate and go with them. As we knew he would be a faithful 
servant, his going was a great consolation to their mother 
and myself. We arrived on Wednesday and staid with them 
until the Monday following. The parting between Mrs. Bid- 
die and the boys was an affecting scene ; to me a very pain- 
ful one. They did not leave Sandy Hook until the begin- 
ning of September. Shortly after they sailed, we had some 
severe gales of wind. These gales reminded me of what I 
had somewhere read : — 

" The winds howl with peculiar horro« to him whose ojff- 
spring is on the waves ; the beating tempest of a winter's 
evening is painfully alarming to that parent whose social 
hearth seems forsaken through the absence of one that is at 
sea." 

At this time parties were very busy about the election of 
President and Vice-President; and as usual on these occasions 
much abuse was published against the candidates. Believ- 
ing it of little consequence to the country, whether Mr. 
Adams or Mr. Jefierson was President, I gave myself no 

* The same servant that staid in town at our house during the yellow 
fever of 1793. — Author's kotk. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 289 

trouble about the election. I was indifferent as to Colonel Burr 
being elected Vice-President, for it was my opinion that it 
would be better for him to remain at the Bar, where he was 
making a fortune, than to be Vice-President of the United 
States. This, I believe, he afterwards thought himself. 
From the great exertions made by the partisans of Mr, Jeffer- 
son and Mr. Burr, I had little doubt of their succeeding. A 
number of my friends were as anxious about this election as 
if everything they had in the world depended on it, when in 
fact it was of as little importance to them which of the can- 
didates succeeded, as it was to an inhabitant of Africa. 

Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr having an equal number of 
votes, the Federal party thinking of two evils they would 
choose the least, did everything in their power to have Mr. 
Burr President. Some people blamed Mr. James Bayard, of 
Delaware, for not behaving with that ffrmness he ought to 
have done. Mr. Bayard is a respectable man, and no doubt 
did what he thought right. It was said Mr. Burr intrigued 
to get appointed President. If he did, he managed badly, 
for he should have gone to Washington, where he certainly 
could, if he wished it, have been elected. It was owing to 
the chapter of accidents that he had not more votes from the 
electors than Mr. Jefferson. Colonel F. IN^ichols, who informed 
me he was spoken to by some members of the Legislature to 
be one of the Federal electors for Pennsylvania, was by acci- 
dent prevented from being at Lancaster, by which means 
another person was chosen in his room. Colonel Nichols has 
told me often since, that knowing the Federal party could 
not carry their man, he was determined to give a vote for 
Colonel Burr, under whom he had served, and for whom he had 
a great esteem. He lamented that he did not ride up and 
get his friend Coleman to give a vote for Colonel Burr. 

Mr. Coleman, who was one of the electors, has frequently 
told me he intended to vote for Colonel Burr, and was with diffi- 
culty persuaded from it, and Colonel Robinson, of Delaware, 
who was an excellent officer of the Pennsylvania line, informed 
me that when he was spoken to to be one of the electors, 
(which he had always been) he informed his friends he should 
19 



290 AUTOBIOGRAPHYOF 

vote for Burr, wlio was one of the officers of the Revolution. 
One of the electors who came in as they were voting told 
Mr. Coleman that he intended to vote for Colonel Burr, and 
wished to speak to him, but had not an opportunity. Cole- 
man was sorry he did not, as he would have advised him to 
vote for Burr. 

In October, while in court, Mr. Kitchen, keeper of the City 
Tavern, called me out, and informed me that he had just received 
an account of Commodore Truxtun's safe arrival in the West 
Indies. On account of the violent gales we had for some days 
after he sailed, this intelligence gave me great pleasure, and 
knowing how pleasing it would be to their mother, I imme- 
diately went to our place to inform her. A few days after- 
wards we had letters from James and Edward, who were 
pleased with their shij) and commander ; and Commodore Trux- 
tun wrote me he was much pleased with their conduct since they 
had been with him, and that he had no doubt of their being 
an honor to their country. They wrote afterwards b}^ seve- 
ral opportunities. 

In December I received a letter from Edward, giving an 
account of St. Kitts, and mentioning how much he was 
pleased with his situation and with his commander, and that 
he and James were very hearty. A day or two after, as I 
was dressing to go out, one of my clerks came from the office, 
and told me a gentleman wanted to speak to me. When I 
went into the office it surprised me to find.it was Mr. Thomas 
Biddle, a cousin of mine, who wanted me. I was laughing 
at him for being so ceremonious, when I was stopped by per- 
ceiving that something extraordinary was the matter with 
him. He inquired in a faltering voice if I had heard any- 
thing from the President. Surprised at the question, I said 
I had not expected to hear from him, having no business with 
him. During this time it never entered my head that he 
alluded to the frigate President, but had supposed it to be 
Mr. Adams. He then put a letter into my hands. It was 
from Mr. Blake, one of the midshipmen belonging to the 
frigate, to Mr. Tilghman, giving an account of the death of 
Edward! Of Edward! so dear to his friends. Of Edward! 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 291 

SO beloved by his parents andfamily. An aifectionate parent, 
who has unexpectedly an account of the loss of a most excel- 
lent son whose life was infinitely dearer to him than his own, 
may form some idea of what I felt on this occasion. None 
but such can know the inexpressible anguish this fatal letter 
gave me. I cannot at this time think of it without being 
greatly, very greatly aftected. I put the letter in my pocket, 
and went up stairs with an intention of sending for some of 
]Vfrs. Biddle's female friends to break the dreadful intelli- 
gence to her, but my clerk, Lewis, coming into the parlor 
to speak to me, and seeing Mrs. Biddle reading, had no 
doubt but it was the letter that contained the melancholy 
news. He said, with a countenance expressive of great 
concern, how very sorry he was for the loss of — . He had 
proceeded thus far ivhen she looked wildly at him, and ex- 
claimed, " What loss ? What do you mean ?" Perceiving she 
was not acquainted with what had happened, and frightened 
at the terror he had occasioned, he would not utter a word. 
Finding he was gone without answering her, she immediately- 
thought of James and Edward, and screamed, " Oh, Mr. 
Biddle 1 Mr. Biddle! What is the matter? What is the 
matter?" I ran immediately down stairs ; she was now 
frantic with terror. I carried her up stairs, and did every- 
thing in my pov^er in vain to soothe her. I sent for some of 
her female friends in town, and expresses to her sister Mrs. 
Lardner, and her very dear friend, Mrs. Jones. It was a long 
time before we could get her any way composed ; her screams 
even now seem to strike my ear, and never shall I forget this 
melancholy scene. Her friends came round her, and at last, 
being quite exhausted, she was put to bed. Mrs. Jones set 
otf for town as soon as she received the note I sent her. 
l!^ever shall I forget the looks of this amiable woman when 
she entered the house. It was a loi!g time before she could 
utter more than, " Oh, Mr. Biddle ! What a loss we have sus- 
tained!" Being a lady of great fortitude I got her soon 
composed enough to see her unfortunate friend. No person 
could console her so well as Mrs. Jones, who was a native of 
North Carolina, and intimate with Mrs. Biddle from her 



292 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

infancy. Mrs. Jones was very fond of all onr children, par- 
ticularl}" Edward, who had the year before, when she was un- 
well, attended her to the seashore, and she felt the affection 
of a parent for him. She staid with us a we6k, and during 
this time Mr. Thompson, chaplain to the frigate President, 
who brought the fatal letter, arrived in Philadelphia. 
Although extremely anxious, I dreaded to see him, for I was 
under great apprehension for James, who had not written by 
Thompson, nor had Commodore Truxtun. He afterwards 
told me that he felt too much distressed to write. Mr. 
Thompson relieved us about James, who was on shore when 
he left the ship, M^hich he had done suddenly and unexpect- 
edly. He assured me that James, although greatly distressed, 
was in good health. He informed nrie that he did not appre- 
hend Edward to be in the least danger until the morning he 
died, nor should he then, but when he went to his cot, he 
found Tom, who lay under it, in tears. Tom told Thompson 
softly that he was much afraid his master Edward was very 
ill. Thompson went up and finding Edward awake, inquired 
how he was. He answered that he was better. He then 
said, " Edward, do you know me ?" The dear youth ap- 
peared irritated, and replied, " Know you, Thompson? To 
be sure I do. Wliy do you ask such a question ?" These 
were the last words he ever spoke. In half an hour after 
this a person came to the mess to inform them that he was 
no more. What must have been the feeling of my dear 
James at this time ? I should have felt my loss much more 
if it had not been for the situation of Mrs. Piddle, which 
obliged me to make exertions that nothing else would have 
done. 

One of the ofhcers of the frigate wrote to his friend a letter, 
which was published in Pelf's paper, giving an account of 
our dear Edward's loss. He writes : — 

" From Prown's paper of Dec. 30th, 1800. Extract of a letter 
from a gentleman on board the frigate President, to Mr. Peter 
Delamar, Professor of Mathematics in the Philadel^Jna Acad- 
emy, dated St. Pierre, Nov. 20th, 1800. 

" On the 14th inst., to windward of Deseada, at 8 o'clock, 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 293 

we had the misfortune of losing your friend and pupil, Mr. 
Edward Biddle, midshipman, aged sixteen years, who died 
of a fever after a few days' illness, universally lamented. To 
form an estimate of the merit of this accomplished youth, 
would he, with a good disposition to unite all those rare 
qualities of the head and heart, which, when properly blended 
and matured, constitute the philosopher and the hero. 
jSTature, Avhich had so highly gifted his mind, had been 
equally profuse in forming his person, which was at once 
elegant and interesting, his stature near six feet, and his limbs 
finely proportioned. In a word, he was one of those figures 
from which we might draw a Hercules or an Adonis. 

" ' As into air the purer spirits flow 

And sep'rate from their kindred dregs below, 
So flew his soul to its congenial place.' 

" To the foregoing extract it may be added that Mr. Bid- 
die's education was liberal and finished ; but he principally 
excelled in an extensive knowledge of the mathematics, for 
which his penetrating genius and solid judgment seemed 
particularly fitted." 

So great was his acquaintance with this abstruse and difli- 
cult science, that at the age of fifteen, when he quitted school 
there was not a teacher in this city who could yield the least 
assistance, and perhaps he was the only person of that age, 
the celebrated Clarant excepted, who ever made himself 
complete master of Sir Isaac ]!^ewton's Principia without the 
help of a tutor. Read, oh youth ! and emulate. 

Our friend Mrs. Jones came to town in February to spend 
a few days with us. I was much shocked at seeing her so 
much altered. I believe her grief for the loss of Edward, 
and the melancholy that she saw preying upon the spirits of 
her friend, brought back a complaint in her stomach which 
it was thought had been entirely removed. Soon after her 
return home she was confined to her bed, from whence she 
never rose. She lingered until the first of April, when this 
best of women departed this world. To lose such a friend, 
and such a son as Edward, in a few months was almost too 
much for Mrs. Biddle, and it affected me greatly. 



294 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

9 

My friend Judge Jones intending to go to the Warm Springs 
in Virginia, and being anxious I should accompan}^ him, we 
set oiFfrom his house, about twelve miles from Philadelphia, 
on a Sunday, the latter end of July, and the next Sunday, in 
the evening, arrived at the Warm Springs, a distance of near 
three hundred and forty miles, part of it a very rough road. 
We travelled in a light Jersey wagon that I purchased for the 
purpose, and we had a pair of very stout horses belonging to 
Mr. Jones. Perhaps ,two better horses could not be found in 
any country, and I believe we could not have travelled the 
distance in the same time in any other carriage than one of 
these Jersey wagons. Two of the days that we were on the 
road it rained very hard. We went through Lancaster, York, 
Hagerstown, Martinsburg, Winchester, and Staunton. The 
road from Winchester to Staunton is good, and the country 
is excellent. The accommodation on the road is generally good. 
The tavern at Martinsburg was one of the best I ever was in, 
indeed there are few gentlemen's houses in which one could 
be better entertained. I understood that the landlord, Mr. 
Gather, had been a man of fortune, but that some unfortunate 
atfair had occasioned his keeping tavern. He had the manners 
and appearance of a gentleman. When we reached the Springs 
we fortunately had some of the Philadelphia papers, printed 
the day before we set off; otherwise, some of the good people 
at the Springs would have thought we were mistaken as to 
the time when we left Philadelj^hia. 

The Warm Spring is most delightful to swim in. It is a 
large body of water, perfectly clear, and just warm enough to 
be agreeable. I never was in so charming a bath. It is pal- 
lisaded round ; you enter by a small door into a room where 
you undress. The entertainment, when we were there, was 
very bad, for which reason we staid there but one day, when 
we went to the Hot Springs, which are five miles from the 
Warm Springs. Here there was a very good tavern. This 
Hot Spring is very extraordinary. My friend went in every 
day, expecting it would be of service to his gouty complaints, 
and he told me that it was. We met here with Colonel Washing- 
ton who behaved so gallantly in South Carolina. I remember 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 295 

it was a saying during the Revolution, when speaking of Col- 
onels Lee and Washington, that Lee would never attack the 
British but when he liad an advantage, that "Washington 
would whenever he had an opportunity. They were both 
excellent officers. 

Colonel Washington was going to Philadelphia. He advised 
me to go to the Sweet Springs, saying that it was very pleasant 
there, and it was worth taking the ride if it were only to see 
Major Jack Willis, one of the biggest men in the world. 
Having nothing to do at the Hot Springs, I went there, about 
forty miles further up the country, over a rough and hilly 
road. One mile on this side the Sweet Springs are the Red 
Springs, the waters of which are much the same as the Sweet 
Springs. It is a pleasant, healthy country, and if it were not 
for the number of gamblers who always frequent this place 
it would be very agreeable. I think this place and the coun- 
try round it preferable to Ballstown' Springs. If the water 
be not, the ride to either must be of service to almost any 
invalid. 

I saw here the celebrated Major Willis. He was by very 
far the largest man I had ever seen. It was mentioned by 
some who knew him when an officer in the army, that he 
was then a slender, genteel man. The year before I saw him, 
he had been on board a British man-of-war in Hampton Roads, 
and he astonished all the crew. As they were not permitted 
to go on the quarter-deck, they manned the tops, shrouds, and 
yards to get a sight of him. He was very active for one of 
his size. 

After staying two weeks at the Sweet Springs, I returned 
to the Hot Springs, and with much pleasure found my friend 
Jones ready to return to Philadelphia. Having no gout noi- 
any other disorder, I did not go into the Hot Springs, but, 
one evening, sat over it, and washed my feet. The water is 
warmer than you could wish for that purpose ; in a few 
minutes my shirt was almost as wet with my perspiration as 
if I had gone into it. 

We left the Hot Springs on a Wednesday, and the next 
Wednesday dined at Mr. Jones's. Notwithstanding we drove 



296 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

near fifty miles the last day to dinner, the horses came home 
so fresh that when near Mr. Jones's there was hardly any 
keeping them in. I never saw so good a pair. In the after- 
noon I got one of ]Mr. Jones's horses and rode home. 

Wishing to leave the house in which I had long lived, in 
Market Street, which brought to the recollection of the 
family our dear, lost Edward, I rented a house in Chestnut 
Street, and the owner dying soon after, I purchased it.* It is 
of advantage to most people to leave a house after they have 
lost a relation or friend very dear to them. 

One evening in May, 1802, a letter was thrown into the 
entry of my house, directed to me under the signature of 
" Charles Belmont." It was written in capital letters, so that 
it was not easy to find out the author. The writer begins by 
saying: "You are rich, I am at present poor. You must 
deposit in the post-office three hundred dollars directed to 
me. It shall be returned in three months with honor. If 
you neglect doing it, your son Nicholas, or one of your daugh- 
ters, shall be stabbed. This you may depend upon shall 
surely be done, if what I have requested is not complied with ; 
and what then will be your reflections when your son or 
daughter is brought home dead ?" He said a great deal more 
to induce me to do what he requested. From some parts of 
the letter I was convinced that, whoever the author was, he 
had frequently been in company with me. Unfortunately I 
w^as out when the letter was thrown into the house, and Mrs. 
Biddle received it. Upon my return home I found her 
greatly agitated, and with difficulty could compose her. If 
it had not been on her account, I should not have felt the 
least uneasiness whatever, being convinced that a person in- 
tending to murder would never mention it. The next day, 
agreeably to his directions, I put a letter in the post-office, 
not, however, with bank notes, but with some pieces of news- 

* This house stood on the present site of No. 431, the office of the Penn- 
sylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities. The 
old number was 159. Charles Biddle's house in Market Street, from which 
he removed, was No. 243. The President resided at No. 190 Market Street. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 297 

paper; and desired Colonel Patton, the postmaster, to inform 
his clerks that they should be handsomely rewarded if they 
would apprehend the person who called for the letter. After 
waiting two weeks, and no person calling for it, I mentioned 
the circumstances to several of my friends and acquaintances. 
A few days after I received another letter from the same 
Belmont, saying I must certainly take him for a fool to sup- 
pose he would so soon have called for the letter, that he knew 
the directions given to Patton's clerks, that if I had waited 
a month without sajnng anything he should have called and 
been taken, and his being taken would have made more noise 
in Philadelphia than anything that ever happened in it before. 
I strongly suspected an unfortunate foreigner to be the author 
of these letters, and never afterwards met him without 
endeavoring to discover sometliing to justify my suspicions. 
I let him know it would give me pleasure to render him any 
services in my power. He expressed himself as very grate- 
ful, but always declared he wanted for nothing. I sometimes 
thought he supposed himself suspected as the author of the 
letters, for he knew of them. If the gentleman had requested 
a loan of the sum mentioned, or more, I would have lent it to 
him, even if I had been certain it would never have been 
returned, for he was much to be pitied, having been driven 
from his country where he had lived in affluence. He was 
at this time much altered from what he had been ; from being 
cheerful and easy, he was dull and melancholy. He soon 
after left America, and not long after left the world. Some- 
time afterwards, mentioning the aifair to one of my neighbors, 
he told me he had received such a letter, and being alarmed 
for his family had sent the money as directed. 

We had in December of this year a very curious trial in 
the Court of Common Pleas, between Dr. Glenn and Captain 
James King. Captain King was riding in a chair with his 
daughter and another young girl, when between Germantown 
and Frankford by carelessness he overset the chair. The 
girls were very little hurt, but it was thought King's legs 
were both broken. He was carried into a house near by, and 
surgeons were immediately sent for. The first that came 



298 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

was Dr. Glenn, wlio being a young man, would do nothing 
more than make preparation for amputation, until some more 
experienced surgeon came. Dr. Shippen soon afterwards 
made his appearance. He immediately declared it would be 
necessary to amputate both legs. King swore they should 
take oif but one. Dr. Shippen, who is a ver}^ eminent sur- 
geon, tried to persuade him of the necessity of taking both 
off; telling him it was probable that his life depended on it ; 
but King was obstinate and declared, let the consequence be 
what it would, they should take off but one. They then 
took off his right leg, and set the left as well as they could, 
and Glenn living near attended him constantly. King's 
pleas for not paying Glenn's bill were, that it was in the first 
place exorbitant, and that he came merely to get an insight 
into his business. He wrote his attorney that " Shippen and 
Glenn were ignorant of their business, that they made a 
mistake by talking oif his left leg, that was not broken, 
instead of his right that was broken in two places. To prove 
this he had the bones of the leg and foot that were taken oif 
ready to be seen by any person that chose to examine them." 
His letter was not allowed to be read. As Dr. Glenn was 
proved to be a regular bred surgeon, a man of very good 
charactei", to have constantly attended King during his con- 
finement, and his bill to be reasonable, the jury gave a verdict 
in his favor without going out of court. Dr. Wistar, who 
was also called on (King said if he had been so fortunate as 
to have had Dr. Wistar at first he would not have lost the 
leg Shippen took aft'), told me that although the right leg was 
not broken, the flesh was torn in such a manner that it was 
absolutely necessary to take it oft". King, in his letter, which 
Mr. Hallowell showed me, gave a humorous account of his 
doctors ; he wrote as he spoke, like an old sailor. 

This year, December, 1802, 1 purchased the house the family 
now reside in. I took the house of Mr. John Field, merchant, 
who had married Miss Williams, daughter of Mr. Daniel 
Williams, who built it. I gave to Mr. Field eleven hundred 
dollars for two years. There was some expectation at the 
time the house was leased to me, that it would be sold to pay 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 299 

a debt of Mr. Williams. I therefore made Mr. Field give 
me security that he would keep me in peaceable possession of 
the house for the terra he had leased it, which as he did not, 
I recovered five hundred dollars of his surety. When he 
found the house would be sold, he called to beg I would not 
interfere with his wife. However, before the sale she died, 
which released me from my promise, and I purchased it for 
nine thousand one hundred dollars. It would have been 
struck off to me for seven thousand five hundred dollars, at 
which price it stood a considerable time, but a friend of mine 
came in and ran it up to the price I gave. lie declared he 
did not know he was bidding against me. This was not 
probable, as I stood near the sheriff and bid loud. However, 
the house was cheap at the price it sold for, and it was not 
my'wish to get it for less. I had made up my mind to go 
much higher for it. 

My son James sailed this j^ear up the Mediterranean with 
Commodore Murray. They cruised off Tripoli for some time , 
and had nearly captured a number of their gunboats, having 
got within gunshot of the rear, and were getting fast up with 
them, when the pilot declared, if they did not haul off imme- 
diatel}^ they would lose the ship. They fired at some troops 
drawn up on the beach, and set them scampering. James 
and some of the other young officers blamed Commodore 
Murray for not standing in longer, but Murray was certainly 
right. In his situation it would have been wrong to run any 
risk of losing his ship. Soon after James returned, he was 
ordered on board the frigate Philadelphia, commanded by 
Captain Bainbridge. They sailed from Philadelphia in 
July, 1803. The last of October following, she chased one 
of the Tripolitan cruisers close in shore, and in hauling off", 
when they supposed themselves entirely out of danger, they 
struck upon a reef of rocks. Although Captain Bainbridge 
is a valuable oflicer, it appears from the deposition of Lieu- 
tenant Porter that they first endeavored to force her over the 
shoal, which was certainly wrong. I do su]3pose if a small 
anchor had been carried out (they had no boat to carry out 
one of their bowers) with two cubbs bent to it, and they had 



300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

hove upon them as they lightened her forward, it is probable 
she would have been got off. It is not, however, easy to say 
what could have been done by a person not on board. 
When Captain Bainbridge found the ship was inevitably 
lost, he sent Lieutenant Porter and James in the barge to in- 
form the Turks that they had surrendered. Just as James 
was going into the boat he put into his boots four half eagles. 
When they were boarded by the galleys they stripped him of 
his coat, waistcoat, etc., but left his boots, by which he saved 
his money. They were taken immediately on shore in the 
barge, and upon landing they were surrounded by a mob 
that he expected would have massacred them before they 
reached the palace. The loss of this ship to such an enemy 
gave great uneasiness to those related or connected with the 
prisoners. To my family it was a severe blow ; we had, 
however, the day after we heard of the capture, a letter from 
one of the young officers, giving an account of their being all 
well and that they were well treated. When we first had 
an account of the loss of the ship (which was four months 
after the accident happened, by a vessel that arrived at 
Liverpool from Malta, and published an account of it in one 
of the English papers), I intended to fit out a fast-sailing 
vessel, taking in a cargo for Leghorn or Malta, and after land- 
ing it, to go off Tripoli in order to assist in procuring the 
liberation of the prisoners, at any rate to get James liberated ; 
and this I should certainly have done but for a letter I re- 
ceived from Mr. Jefiierson in answer to one written him by 
Captain Gamble, J. Douglass, Esq., and myself, each of whom 
had a son among the prisoners. 

It was a matter of regret to me afterwards, that I had not 
gone on this expedition, as it is jDrobable I should have per- 
suaded Commodore Preble to have concluded a peace with 
the Bey ; for he has since told me, it was his opinion that 
peace should be made, and he would have done it if Captain 
Chauncey had arrived a few hours later than he did. And 
he would have done it after his arrival, if Chauncey had not 
told him it was expected in America he would be able to 
make peace and get the prisoners without paying anything. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 301 

In tliis he was certain!}' mistaken, nothing of the kind was 
expected, it could have been made on very honorable terms, 
and if it had been done at that time, it wonld have left a 
strong impression in fovor of the Americans; they wonld 
have said, if those people with so small a force can bring the 
Bey of Tripoli to such terms, what cannot they do with a 
fleet of frigates? At any rate, it is probable had I gone I 
should have prevailed on the Commodore against sending in 
the fireship, or whatever she was called, commanded by 
Somers, whom I had known from the time of his being a 
small boy. It has always appeared to me that those gallant 
and valuable young oflicers, Somers, Wadsworth, and Israel, 
were foolishly sacrificed. This vessel, if sent in at all, should 
never have gone without being convoyed by the galleys, or 
some way have been contrived to have got them oft". As 
they went it was almost going to certain destruction. I have 
been told, and have no doubt of the fact, that she was iu no 
way fitted for such an enterprise. 



302 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



CHAPTER V. 

The 12th of July, 1804, while we were at breakfast, my 
neighbor, Mr. William Bell, called and told me it was re- 
ported about town that General Hamilton had the day before 
killed Colonel Burr in a duel. Persecuted as I knew Colonel 
Burr had been, I felt distressed. Soon after another gentle- 
man came and said the report was that Burr had killed 
Hamilton. This proved to be the fact. Judge Peters, an 
intimate friend of Hamilton's, was talking of him and Burr 
when ]SIr. Bell came in. He was mentioning that Hamilton 
had said to him some short time before, that they were not 
as bad as we were in their political disputes ; that in ]^ew 
York, although they differed in politics, they never carried 
party matters so far as to let it interfere with their social 
parties, and mentioned himself and Colonel Burr, who always 
behaved witli courtesy to each other. It is impossible to 
conceive the noise that this duel made in ISTew York; there 
Avas as much or more lamentation as when General Washing- 
ton died. What occasioned much more noise than other- 
wise would have been made, were the violent pieces for some 
time before published against Colonel Burr in the American 
Citizen. The editor of this paper, who had done everything 
in his power to set Burr and Hamilton to fighting, affected the 
most violent grief at the death of Hamilton. 

Having an acquaintance and some business with Mr. Pen- 
dleton, the second of General Hamilton, I wrote to him the 
day after we heard of the duel to know if everything was 
fair and proper on the part of Colonel Burr. He answered me 
by the return of the post, and his letter I now have, that the 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 303 

only thing the seconds ditferecl about was, which fired first. 
Certainly it was of no consequence which first fired. It was 
said Burr had practised for some days before the duel in 
firing at a mark ; but this was not true, he had no occasion 
to practise, for perhaps there was hardly ever a man could 
fire so true, and no man possessed more coolness or courage. 
Judge Burke, who was his second when he fought Church, 
told me that there w^as not the least alteration in his behavior 
on the ground from what there would have been Kad they 
met on friendly terms. He said that when he loaded Colonel 
Burr's pistols, by mistake he put a wad with the ball, and 
was hammering to get it down, when Burr called to him, and 
told him not to mind it, if he missed him then he would hit 
him the next shot. However, after the first fire Mr. Church 
made an apology. I think General Hamilton would have 
done so had he fortunately been missed.* 

It will be perceived by the correspondence between Gene- 
ral Hamilton and Colonel Burr that there was an evasion in 
General Hamilton's first letter of what he at last Aartually 
confessed. General Hamilton was certainly a man of very 
superior talents to most men, and I sincerely lamented his 
death, but as an old military man Colonel Burr could not have 
acted otherwise than he did. I never knew Colonel Burr speak 
ill of any man, and he had a right to expect a different treat- 
ment from what^he experienced. Commodore Truxtun dined 
in company with Hamilton and Burr the week before the 
duel ; he has since told me he had not the most distant idea 
of there being any difference between them. 

When I found what a disturbance there was in l^ew York 
about this unhappy affair, I wrote to Colonel Burr, and re- 
quested he would come and stay with me. He came in two or 
three days. Here there was a great clamor about the duel, 
and several of my friends were angry at me for having him 
at my house; and some peojole, it was said, came from New 
York with an intention of taking him. In consequence of 

* This duel took place Sept. 2, 1799, and is described in Parton's Life of 
Burr, p. 240. 



304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

this report (my family being at my liouse in the country 
where I used to go every evening) I staid with him several 
nights. He would not have been easily taken. 

I received a letter, of which the following is a copy, from 
Mr. Van JS'ess, the second of Colonel Burr: — 

Dear Sir : I shall answer without hesitation the interros;- 
atories you have put to me, as I conceive it my duty to com- 
municate with freedom the circumstances that attended the 
interview between Colonel Burr and General Hamilton. After 
the necessary preparations had been made, which you will 
iind detailed in the printed statement of the seconds, the 
parties took their places ; General Hamilton raised his pistol as 
if to try it, and again lowering it, said, "I beg pardon for 
delaying you, but the direction of the light sometimes renders 
glasses necessary." He then drew forth his spectacles and put 
them on. The gentleman whose duty it was to give the word, 
then asked the parties whether they were prepared, which 
being answered in the affirmative, the word " present" was 
then given, on which both parties presented. The pistol of 
General Hamilton was first discharged, and Colonel Burr fired 
immediately after. On this point I have the misfortune to 
differ from the friend of General Hamilton, and without 
doubting the sincerity of his opinion, I can safely declare 
that I was never more firmly convinced of any fact that came 
under my observation. On the discharge of General Hamil- 
ton's pistol, I observed a slight motion in the person of Colonel 
Burr, which gave me the idea that he was struck. On this 
point I conversed with Colonel Burr, when we returned, who 
ascribed the motion of his body to a small stone under his 
foot, and added, the smoke of General Hamilton's pistol for a 
moment obscured his sight. 

When General Hamilton fell, Colonel Burr advanced 
towards him, hut I immediately urged the importance of his 
repairing to the barge. He complied with my request, and 
in a few minutes I followed him. "When I arrived at the 
boat Colonel Burr was just stepping from it. He said to me, 
"I must go and speak to him," I replied it would be obvi- 
ously improper, as General Hamilton was surrounded by the 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 305 

surgeons and bargemen, by wliom he ought not to be seen, 
but that if he would remain I would go and see the General, 
which I did, and on mj' return to the boat ordered the barge- 
men to proceed immediately to the city, which was done. 

Thus, sir, I have related to you such circumstances respect- 
ing the late unfortunate interview between Colonel Burr and 
General Hamilton, as have not hitherto been published. It is 
but justice to add that Colonel Burr so far from exhibiting any 
degree of levity on the occasion to which I have alluded, or 
expressing any satisfaction at the result of the meeting, his 
whole conduct while I was with him was expressive of regret 
and concern. 

Yours, etc. etc. 

W. P. Van Is^ess.* 

Had General Hamilton in his answer to the first note sent 
by Colonel Burr mentioned what he afterwards did, viz., that 
he did not intend any reflection on the private character of 
Colonel Burr, everything would have been settled, but he 
himself threw down the gauntlet. Colonel Burr told me a 
short time before the duel, when he was in Philadelphia on 
his way to New York from Washington, that ho was deter- 
mined to call out the iri*st man of any respectability concerned 
in the infamous publications concerning him. He had no 
idea then of ha\nng to call on General Hamilton. 

Burr was much blamed for challenging Hamilton. If in 
this he acted as a sinner, Hamilton did not act as a saint in 
accepting it. General Hamilton in giving an account of 
Major Andre, very justly observes, " That a man t)f real merit 
is never seen in so favorable a light as through the medium 
of adversity. The clouds that sun^ound him are so many 
shades that set off his good qualities. Misfortune cuts clown 
little vanities that in prosperous times serve as so many spots 
in his virtues, and gives a tone of humanity that makes his 
worth more amiable. His spectators who enjoy a happier 
lot, are less prone to detract from it through envy ; and are 
much disposed by compassion to give the credit he deserves, 

* See note F. 
20 



306 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

and perhaps even to magnify it." This was the case as to 
General Hamilton. 

In July, 1804, my friend General Armstrong was appointed 
Ambassador to France. Wishing to get my son Nicholas 
with him, as his secretary, I spoke to him and he agreed to 
take liim. Nicholas left us the last of July.* 

The following letter was sent open to me to be forwarded 
to Governor Bloomfield. General Smith and Giles M^ere 
afterwards among the most violent of Colonel Burr's enemies. 

Washington, Nov. 24, 1804. 

Sir : We whose names are written at the end of this letter, 
Senators of the United States, have seen with much sensi- 
bility and concern a prosecution instituted, and as far as we 
are informed, still continued in one of the Courts of New 
Jersey, upon a charge of murder against the Vice-President 
of the United States and President of the Senate. Our feel- 
ings have been still further excited by information that 
attempts are now making to demand the person of the Presi- 
dent of the Senate to answer tlie alleged oflence, as a fugitive 
from justice. We understand the real offence charged to 
have been committed by him, is causing the death of the late 
General Hamilton in a duel, every circumstance attending 
which was marked with all the etiquette and fairness usually 
observed amongst gentlemen upon similar occasions. 

Whilst we wish to avoid every expression which might 
give any sanction or approbation whatever to the custom of 
duelling, or call in question the policy of the laws of New 
Jersey which makes no discrimination between a death thus 
produced, and that by a common murder with premeditated 
malice and without the survivor exposing his own life to an 
equal hazard, yet we cannot help observing that there exists 
a great difference in the two cases in the opinion and usages 
of most civilized nations, of the jieople of the United States, 
and particularly of that part 6f the United States where the 
offence in the present instance is said to have been committed. 
In support of this we beg leave to call your Excellency's at- 

* See note G. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 307 

teiition to two cases of a similar nature which have occurred 
in the same county within a few years past, and others bear- 
ing near resemblance to these might also be cited. The first, 
the case of Mr. Livingston and Mr. Jones ; the othci-, the 
case of Mr. Eaker and the younger Mr. Hamilton. We are 
informed that no judicial proceedings were had in either of 
these cases, and that shortly after the unfortunate fate of Mr. 
Jones, Mr. Livingston w^as promoted to one of the highest 
judicial offices in the State of New Yc»rk, in wdiich Ave be- 
lieve he continues with advantage to his country and honor 
to himself; and we believe Mr. Eaker also shortly after the 
untimely fate of young Mr. Hamilton, received some judicial 
appointment. These cases demonstrate not only that the 
same rules of judicial proceedings have not been applied to 
difterent persons in similar situations. But the general 
understanding of society discriminates widely between this 
ofi'ence and the case of a common murder ; so much so, that in 
the cases referred to, instead of the survivor receiving the 
reprobation attached by society to common murderers, the 
oftences have been deemed no obstacle to judicial preferment. 
N^or can we help remarking in the present case, that although 
we are advised that the laws of New Jersey make no diflter- 
ence between the oflences of principal and second in the event 
of a death by a duel, and although the seconds are as well 
and generally known as the surviving principal, yet as far as 
we are informed no judicial proceedings have been had 
against either of them. Whilst, therefore, we are willing to 
rely implicitly upon the ultimate justice of the Courts of 
Xew Jersey, we are constrained to express our regret that the 
same rule should be so unequally applied to different indi- 
viduals in similar circumstances, and particularly that this 
inequality should be directed against the President of the 
Senate whilst engaged in the discharge of ofiicial duties ; nor 
can we avoid intimating the unpleasant embarrassment of the 
Senate if the attempt meditated of demanding his person 
whilst thus engaged should be prosecuted. 

Under such circumstances it would, in our judgment, be 
conducive to the public interests, and particularly gratifying 



308 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

to our feelings that the prosecution should be discontinued, 
thereby to facilitate the public business by relieving the 
President of the Senate from the peculiar embarrassments of 
his present situation, and the Senate from the distressing 
imputation thrown on it, by holding up its President to the 
world as a common murderer. Avoiding the expression of 
any opinion in every other respect whatever, it is but justice 
to the President of the Senate to add, that in that character 
he has at all times, as far as our observ^ations have extended, 
acted with dignity, ability, and impartiality, and has thus 
been instrumental in promoting the public business. In this 
delicate state of things we confide in your Excellency's firm- 
ness and patriotism to take this subject into consideration, 
and to adopt such measures therein as may be consistent with 
right, and the laws and usages of New Jersey. 

Be pleased, sir, to accept assurances of our high considera- 
tion, etc. etc. 

(Signed) Thos. Sumter, 

Robert Wright, 
Wm. B. Giles, 
Wm. Locke, 
Stephen R. Bradly, 
Geo. Logan, 
T. Worthington, 
S'l Smith, 
James Jackson, 
Jos. Anderson, 
John Smith. 

To His Excellency, Gov. Bloomfielc. 

Governor Bloomfield was the intimate friend of Colonel 
Burr, and had been from the time they were boys. He fre- 
quently expressed to mj-self and others the utmost esteem 
and regard for Burr ; but he would not issue a nolle prosequi, 
saying he did not think the Constitution of New Jersey gave 
him the power of doing it. But I believe the real cause was 
the fear of injurying his popularity ; and the same reason 
induced him to oppose the friends of Colonel Burr from 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 309 

applying to the Legislature for a law in his favor. The Gov- 
ernor is a worthy man, but he is too much influenced by his 
wish to keep well with all parties. This is hardly possilSle 
to do ; almost every man who attempts it is called a trimmer, 
and often loses his consequence with all parties. 

Hamilton and Burr were about the same age ; both small, 
well-made men. They were considered in the army as very 
valuable officers, and had they been of the same political 
party would have been very good friends. If General Hamil- 
ton had not opposed Colonel Burr I have very little doubt 
but he would have been elected Governor of 'New York, and 
if he had it would have been a fortunate circumstance for 
the country, as well as themselves and their families. 

In this unfortunate affair Mr. Rufus King was blamed, I 
think deservedly, for not endeavoring to prevent this fatal 
duel. He is the moderate, judicious friend General Hamil- 
ton alludes to in the paper inclosed in his will. ' 

Mr. Van Ness told me that the morning of the duel, when 
he went to Colonel Burr, he found him in a very sound sleep. 
He was obliged to hurry on his clothes to be ready at the 
time appointed for the meeting. 

In April, 1803, I lost a worthy old friend. Dr. Enoch 
Edwards. He was as entertaining a man as I ever knew, 
and although seldom well, was always in good spirits and 
cheerful. He,*as well as his brother. Major Evan Edwards, 
served during our Revolutionary war with great reputation. 
He was the thinnest man I ever knew, had a spitting of blood 
for upwards of thirty years, was cadaverous, and had a 
very bad cough. He used to tell a great many stories about 
himself. He. said that he had the advantage of all his 
friends, they all changed, but he never could look worse. 
He said he went on business to a farmer in Montgomery 
County. The man was not at home, the wife asked his 
name. He told her he was Dr. Edwards. " Dr. Edwards !" 
says the woman, " why my husband said you were the thinnest 
and ugliest man he had ever seen. I don't think you are so 
very ugly." The husband coming up soon after, the Doctor 
laughing, told him what his wife had said; at which he was 



310 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

much confused. He went to England in 1793. Part of his 
business was to sell some land for Mr. Nicholson, who told him 
he should be careful not to let the people who wanted to pur- 
chase the land know he was born on it. Some years before 
he died, walking down Market Street, he received an acci- 
dental stroke in the breast from a porter, who was hauling a 
cask out of a cellar. The stroke would have done no injury 
to a person in health, but it almost killed the Doctor. He 
went home that evening, and in the night was taken very ill, 
and early in the morning sent for me. T immediately went 
up to his farm, which was in Byberry, about thirteen miles 
from town. He informed me that he was verj'' ill and desi- 
rous of making his will, which he did. In the night, Mrs. 
Edwards was sitting on one side of the bed, and myself on 
the other, expecting from the pain he was in that he would 
hardly live out the night, when rousing himself up and smil- 
ing, " JSTow," says he, " I have been thinking for some time, 
that if Mrs. Biddle goes off" (she was then every day expect- 
ing to be confined) " and I should go, as probably will be the 
case, you two would be married in six months." He, how- 
ever, lived many years afterwards, making a voyage to 
England, and after that to France, whence, at Paris, he wrote 
me that he had a severe fit of sickness. From what was told 
him by his French acquaintance, a person would suppose that 
all Paris was alarmed and inconsolable about him. He spoke 
highly of their politeness and attention to him. It appears 
incredible that these people should be guilty of crimes dis- 
graceful to human nature. It has often been mentioned that 
Mr. Monroe encouraged Thomas Paine to write the infamous 
letter he sent to General Washington. The Doctor often told 
me that Monroe sent him to Paris and did everything in his 
power to prevent his sending or publishing the letter. Paine 
told him that anything Mr. Monroe wrote, it was of no conse- 
quence whether it was suppressed or not, but what he wrote 
was for posterity. Paine as a Avriter was certainly eminent, 
but in every other respect he was and is truly contemptible. 
He took great care during our Revolutionary war to keep 
out of danger. In 1793 the Doctor and several of my friends 



CHARLES BIDDLB. 311 

who were displeased with Governor Mifflin, wanted me very 
much to let them run me for the office of Governor in oppo- 
sition to him ; but independent of its being a very troublesome 
office, I had a sincere friendship for Mifflin. 

Being anxious to get Commodore Truxtnn again in the 
navy, I wrote a letter in 1805, to Mr. Dallas, the intimate 
friend of Mr. Secretary Smith, saying that I was very certain 
the Commodore had no intention whatever of resigning his 
commission when he resigned the command of the Mediter- 
ranean squadron, and that I understood the Secretary, after 
the appointment of Morris, said he hoped Commodore Trux- 
tun would not resign. Mr. Dallas inclosed my letter to the 
Secretary, whicli brought on a correspondence between Trux- 
tun and the Secretary. The Secretary wanted some proof 
that he had no intention of resigning, and the Commodore ap- 
plied to Captain Dale and myself. I mentioned wliat he had 
written me at the time ; and Dale, what he had said to«hira.'^ 

The Secretary gave Truxtun reason to suppose he wished 
him in the navy again, and that it was very probable he 
would soon be called into service. If he wished him in ser- 
vice, he took a very improper method to obtain it, for he 
wrote to all the captains in the navy to give their opinions 

* Copies of the letters between Commodore Dale and myself. 

Philadelphia, Sept. 7, 1805. 
Dear Sir: — When you arrived at Norfolk from the Mediterranean did 
you understand from Commodore Truxtun that, when he gave up the com- 
mand of the squadron to Morris, he had resigned his commission in the navy, 
or have you at any time since heai'd him say he had resigned ? 

Your most obedient servant, 
Commodore Dalk. C. B. 

Answer. 

Philadelphia, Sep. 7. 

Dear Sir : — In answer to your inquiries of me, respecting what I heard 
when I arrived at Norfolk from the Mediterranean about Commodore Trux- 
tun's resigning, I can with confidence say that I did not understand so at that 
time ; and from that time to the present I have heard Commodore Truxtun 
say he did not resign his commission. 

I am yours respectfully, 

C. BiDDLE, Esq. Kichaud Dale, 



812 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

whether Commodore Truxtun ought to be again in the navy 
and hold the rank he had before he left the Chesapeake. 
This, as was to be expected, ended in their all, except Com- 
modore Murray, being against his holding the rank he form- 
erly had. Truxtun thought the calling upon the captains in 
the navy in this way, a very improper mode of proceeding, 
and I believe few would think otherwise. Truxtun wrote to 
the Secretary that he had acted like a base hypocrite, that he 
w^as a coward and scoundrel. I suppose the Secretary thoughi 
it would be foolish in him to tight every officer that con- 
ceived himself injured. ' 

In Sej^tember, 1805, to the intinite joy of the family, James 
returned from Tripoli.* He was in perfect health, for his 
usage was much better than we could expect from such an 
enemy. He was but a short time home before he was ordered 
to take charge of Gunboat ]^o. 1, then lying at Charleston. 
If it had not been perfectly agreeable to him he should not 
have gone, but should have 'resigned. As he w^as, however, 
anxious to go, I would not oppose it. lie was appointed 
lieutenant, and had rank from May, 1804. 

The latter end of January, 1806, I went with my friend 
John Dunlap to Lancaster. The business that carried me 
there was that my commission as Prothonotary had not been 
renewed, although all the other officers of the government in 
the city had received theirs, and I knew not whether Gov- 
ernor McKean intended to renew mine. I was received by 
the Governor with great kindness, and he ordered my com- 
mission to be made out and given to me immediately, it 
having been neglected by mistake. During the time we were 
there Mr. Dunlap and myself gave a dinner to the Governor, 
the Speakers of both Houses, and some of the members. 
This dinner reminded me afterwards of what I had heard of 
a Dutch merchant who had a turtle sent him as a present. 
He said he hoped no person would send him another, for he gave 
a dinner to a large party Avhich cost him a considerable sum, 

* The officers and crew of the Philadelphia were held prisoners at Tripoli 
from October, 1803, until June, 1805. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 313 

and he had disobliged many of his friends hj not inviting 
them. Some of our acquaintances in both Houses were dis- 
pleased at not being of the party, and this with their hatred 
of the Governor* I believe was the occasion of a law being 
passed soon after, that the Prothonotaries of the County 
courts should annually pay into the treasury all the fees they 
received exceeding fifteen hundred dollars. As this would 
make my office of no value, I returned to Lancaster, and pro- 
cured an alteration in the law ; but it was not such a one as 
it should have been. The law is obviously unjust, for in some 
of the county ofiSces it had no eflfect at all. The true way of 
making it bear equally was to have laid a tax upon writs. I 
have reason to believe that this dinner was the occasion of 
this law. At this time I cared very little about the oflice, 
in fact I only wanted it put into the hands of some person 
who would collect and pay the fees due me. 

During this summer Mr. Burr was frequently in Phila- 
delphia, and my family being in the country, he was often 
with me. The latter part of it he spent chiefly at Morris- 
ville.f His daughter, Mrs. Alston from Georgetown, was 
there with her son. General Moreau lived there, and he and 
Colonel Burr, I understood, were often together; as military 
men this was natural. From this place Colonel Burr wrote 
to me that he had some business of importance to communi- 
cate to me, and 'that he Avould soon be in town. A few days 
afterwards he called, and after conversing on different sub- 
jects, he told me that a number of gentlemen of the first 
respectability in every part of the Union wished him to form 
a settlement on the Mississippi of military men ; that the 
Spaniards he knew were ripe for a revolt, and it would make 
the fortunes of all those concerned in revolutionizing that 
country. I told him that such a plan, if carried into eft'ect, 
would probably involve us in a war with Spain, and I would 

* The (Governor at this time spoke with tlie utmost contempt of the majority 
of the Legislature, calling them geese, ignoramuses, clodhoppers, rascals, 
and scoundrels. They certainly were not very enlightened men, nor was 
the Governor the mildest of men. — Author's note, 

t Opposite to Trenton. 



314 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

therefore haVe nothing to do with it. He said whether we 
invaded the country or not, we should have a war with Spain. 
I mentioned Miranda's expedition as one that sliould have 
never heen countenanced by any person in this cdtintry. He 
said Miranda was a fool, totally unqualified for such' an ex- 
pedition. Finding I would not listen to his plans, and that 
no arguments he could use would have any weight with me, 
he expressed great regret. After a silence for some time, he 
said he never was more at a loss than he was to know whether 
he should communicate this business to Commodore Truxtun. 
I told him, of that he was the best judge, and then left him. 
He afterwards went to see the Commodore and opened him- 
self much more full}' to him than he had to me. I was sorry 
afterwards, on his account, that I had not let him proceed, 
and heard the whole of his plan. It is probable an imme- 
diate stop would have been put to it, which would have been 
fortunate for him. He told me he would not do anything 
that could injure his country. I believed then he thought so, 
and at this time, 1813, have not changed my opinion. He 
would have collected a number of military men round him 
near the lines, formed a barrier between us and the Spaniards 
which would have prevented their ever disturbing us. From 
the intimacy between Colonel Burr and myself, many people 
believed me perfectly acquainted with his intentions, but I 
have related everything known by me respecting this (to 
Colonel Burr) unfortunate business. Colonel Burr soon after 
this went into the Western country. 

In December, this year, a servant boy named Virgil, born 
in tlie family in N'orth Carolina, had been out late for several 
nights. One night, after the family were in bed, he opened 
the cellar-door and went to a dance, and did not return until 
after daylight. Being determined to put a stop to such 
practices, the next evening I took him in the garret, and 
locked him up, telling him that in the morning he should 
have a new cowskin worn out on his back. In the morning, 
to my very great surprise, I found he had contrived to get 
the room door opened, and had moved off. I immediately 
sent off to J^ew York, and had advertisements put up on the 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 315 

road, offering a reward of forty dollars and a pardon if he 
would return, bat could hear nothing of hira. On Jthe first 
of January, about twelve o'clock at night, I took two con- 
stables with me, and we searched every house in the lower 
part of the city and in Southwark that we could hear of 
there being any dance at. We disturbed some parties of 
whites, blacks, and mulattoes all dancing together, but could 
hear nothing of Virgil. He was a very handsome black, 
and a most excellent servant until he got into bad company, 
which kept him out at night. Had I punished him in the 
evening instead of locking him up he never wOuld have 
thought of running away. Soon after he left us Mr. Bennet, 
who keeps a tavern at Long Branch, and who knew him well, 
saw him in I^ew York. He told Mr. Bennet that he was there 
with me. As we never heard of him since, it is probable he 
went to sea, and was lost. 

In the month of February, this year, 1807, I received a 
letter from the unfortunate Colonel Burr, informing me that 
notwithstanding the grand jury had acquitted him he was 
apprehended, and was on his way to Washington under a 
guard. He rec[uested me to inform liis friends of his situa- 
tion ; that he could write nothing but what was to be seen 
by the officer who commanded the escort.* I sent a copy of 

* Coj))] of Col. Burr' s Letter. 

"Fort Stoddeht, 22d Feby, 1809. _ 

"Z)'?- Sir : — I was arrested a few days since by a party of the United States 
troops near this place and am now moving towards the city of Washington 
under military escort. This proceeding is the more extraordinary as the 
grand jury summoned for the purpose, before the Supreme Court in Adams 
County (Natchez), the day before my departure from that place, uctjuitted 
me in the completest manner of all unlawful practices or designs. The re- 
port of this grand jury also censured the conduct of government in some 
particulars concerning me, and for this reason I am told that the printers have 
not thought it discreet to publish that report entire. The pretence of my 
having ibrfeited a I'eoognizance, though sanctioned by the proclamation of 
Governor Williams, is utterly false. The details of the prosecutions against 
me cannot now be given — they are beyond all example and in defiance of 



316 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

his letter to Colonel John Swartwout, who, as well as his 
brother, I knew were his warm friends, and who would do 
everjT^thing in their power to serve him. One of the brothers, 
Mr. Samuel Swartwout, a brave, generous young man, was 
with him at Richmond, and challenged General Wilkinson 
after the trial. I also sent a copy of the letter to Mr. Van 
Ness, his second in the unfortunate duel with Colonel Hamil- 
ton. During the trial Colonel Burr was very anxious for 
my being at Richmond. He said that although I could not 
be a witness, my being with him would be of importance to 
him ; but, as my own opinion was different, I concluded not 
to go. For a great number of years no three men Avere more 
intimate friends than Wilkinson, Burr, and Truxtun. At 
this time Truxtun would not speak to Wilkinson, and was not 
upon good terms with Burr. Wilkinson and Burr .were 
bitter enemies. I was intimate with them all, and nothing 
in this unpleasant business interrupted the harmony that had 
always subsisted between us. They all Avrote to me from 
Richmond. Truxtun abused Wilkinson as having acted the 
part of a base hypocrite ; and AVilkinson wrote of him in 
such a manner that they would have fought had they seen 
each other's letters. Truxtun told me that Wilkinson, in his 
dispatches (cipher letter) from New Orleans, had mentioned 
him and myself as being concerned with Burr. He was 
much disappointed when I told him if it was so it gave me 
no concern whatever. I, however, wrote to Wilkinson to 
know if it was true. He declared upon his honor that it 
was a most infamous falsehood, and wished to know who had 
informed me. I wrote him that this was not necessary, as 
his denying it satisfied me it was not true. At the time of 

all law. Please to communicate this to my friends in New York. What 
I write must be inspecteil by the officer of the guard." 

The following is an extract from tlie finding of the grand jury : — 
" The grand jury of the Mississippi Territory, on a due investigation of 
the evidence brought before tliem, are of opinion that Aaron Burr has not 
been guilty of any crime or misdemeanor against the laws of the United 
States or of this Territory, or ffiuen any just cause of alarm or inquietude 
to the good people of the same." 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 317 

Colonel Burr's being in the Western country my old friend 
Truxtun and myself had several conversations about the 
intended expedition. lie would sometimes get oftended at 
what passed between us, and would not come to my house 
for several weeks. Meeting him one morning he told me he 
had not closed his eyes all night. "What ailed you?" 
" Did you not see in the Aurora of yesterday the mention 
that ' a distinguished American commander w^as con.cerned 
with Burr ' ?" " Yes, I saw that in the Aurora, but why 
should that give any uneasiness ? " Why, because the per- 
son alluded to must be me." " And are you concerned with 
Colonel Burr?" "You know I am not." "Then why 
uneasy at anytliing said in the papers about this ' distin- 
guished commander' ?" " Let me ask you, my friend, if 
you would not. be hurt at such a publication?" " Xot in 
the least. I should not have the vanity to suppose it was 
intended for me." He was highly oiiended at some part of 
what was said, and for a month did not speak to me. 

After the trial of Colonel Burr, Wilkinson was in Balti- 
more, and for something H— — ■* had done he challenged him. 

H (as Randolph had done before) refused to fight him, 

saying that ho must acquit himself of the charges that were 
against him, before he would put himself upon a footing with 
him. Wilkinson told me, that as soon as he reached Balti- 
more he should challenge II , that if he was to meet him 

in the street he did not believe he could command himself so 
much as to refrain from attacking him. When Truxtun 

heard of H refusing to fight Wilkinson, he called on me. 

" Well, you see H would not accept of Wilkinson's chal- 
lenge." I told him a poltroon always found some excuse for 
not fighting. " Why, you do not think me a coward, and I 
would not accept a challenge from him." I told him my 
opinion was, that until a man was found guilty of a dishon- 
orable action, and held a commission in the army, he was 
upon a footing with any gentleman. Something more passed 
upon this occasion, for which he again did not speak to me for 
several weeks. 

* Possibly General Hampton. 



318 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Although Colonel Burr always spoke of giving freedom to 
the people of oSTew Spain with enthusiasm, I have no doubt 
he would have given up his expedition if he could have pro- 
cured any appointment that would liave made him indepen- 
dent. JSIy reason for thinking so is that on the resignation 
of Judge Shippen he requested me to speak to Governor 
McKean, and endeavor to get him appointed in his room. 
This, as Colonel Burr then stood, I thought would be improper, 
and told him so. However, I spoke to the Governor's son, 
Joseph B. McKean, who being of the same oj)inion as myself, 
the Governor was not spoken to on the subject. 

Nor do I believe Wilkinson was over concerned or knew 
what Colonel Burr intended until Mr. Swartwout informed 
him. I do know that some of Colonel Burr's friends in N'ew 
York were very anxious to know how Wilkinson would 
receive him ; but I thought then, and shall ever think, that 
from the long intimacy and friendship he always professed 
for Colonel Burr, that he should have informed him of the 
consequence of his proceeding upon his expedition. If he 
had done this Burr would have desisted, and it would all 
have died awa3^ This I told Wilkinson when he came here, 
but he seemed to think it was necessary for him to act as he 
did. It was always a mystery to me how it happened that 
General Dayton was not tried, as well as Colonel Burr. It 
was generally believed that he was concerned in all his 
schemes, whatever they were. It w^as thought by man}'^ that 
Dayton would keep out of the way, but he w^as too much of a 
soldier for that. It is to be lamented that such men should 
be thought of being tried as traitors to their country. Burr 
was always of opinion that Bonaparte would give us some 
trouble in IN'ew Orleans, and wanted, long before this time, 
to take measures that would put it out of his power to do us 
any injury ; but Mr. Jefferson either was afraid of Bonaparte, 
or had a better opinion of him than he deserved.* 

The latter end of June we had an account of the attack of 
the Leopard upon the Chesapeake. Although many people 
blamed the Government for not delivering up the men claimed 

* For some letters relating to this period see note F. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 319 

by Captain Douglass, every American felt indignant at the 
manner in which the attack was made. In Philadelphia we 
had, on the first of July, a town meeting. Matthew Lawler, 
the Mayor, was in the chair. We entered into a resolution 
to support the General Government in every measure they 
should adopt to avenge the insult offered to our flag, and 
pledged ourselves to make any sacrifices and encounter every 
hazard. Several other resolutions were entered into. As the 
inhabitants of ISTorfolk and its vicinity had behaved well, I 
oftered a resolution thanking them for their gallant and manly 
conduct. This was unanimously agreed to. We then 
appointed a committee consisting of Mr. Lawler, Charles 
Biddle, Paul Cox, David Lenox, Thomas Forrest, Richard 
Dale, Walter Franklin, George Clymer, Michael Lieb, Thomas 
Leiper, Francis Gurney, James Engle, Joseph Hopkinson, 
George Bartram, Edward Tilghman, M. Bright — nine Demo- 
crats and seven Federalists. The afternoon of the day we 
were appointed, a number of people collected on board an 
English brig called the Fox, lying at Pine Street wharf. It 
was reported that she was loaded with provisions and water 
for the fleet in the Chesapeake. Upon hearing of it I went 
immediately down to the wharf, and found there was a great 
number of people on board very busy i^i unbending her sails 
and unrigging her. Some other gentlemen of the Committee 
coming on the wharf, we sent and procured a company of 
militia, commanded by Captain Wharton, to come down. 
He soon restored order on board the brig. On the wharf the 
people seemed very much disposed for a riot. One of the 
crew^ of the Fox hearing a person damning the British for a 
set of cowardl}^ j-ascals, for attacking the Chesapeake in the 
manner they had done, swore they were cowardly rascals that 
called them so; that he w\is an Englishman, and he would 
fight any damned Yankee in the country. He was pulling 
ofl* his jacket to prepare for battle, and several fellows were 
gathering round to seize him, wdien I went up to him, and 
with some difiiculty got him out of the crowd and persuaded 
him to go to his lodging. He was a short, well-built young 
man, whose name I was afterwards sorry I did not ask him. 



320 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

IsTelson could not have behaved with more intrepidity than 
this brave fellow, who was perfectly sober. 

Returning from the theatre the night after the town-meet- 
ing, with two ladies, when near Mr. Bond's (the British Con- 
sul) house, there were two large stones thrown from across 
the street at it. They struck the door and rebounded very 
near us. I immediately crossed the street, when the fellows 
ran away. After seeing the ladies home, I went to Mr. 
Bond's and staid with him until it was late. Mr. Bond did 
not apprehend any danger, but he felt very indignant at the 
insult offered to him ; and the family were much alai*lTied. 
Although Mr. Bond had gone from Philadelphia with the 
British (at the time of the Revolution), he deserved no insult 
■from the inhabitants, for while in England and in Philadel- 
j)hia he took every opportunity of serving his countrymen. 
When my son James went out with Commodore Bainbridge, 
he gave him letters to some of the British officers in the fleet 
up the Mediterranean, and to Sir Alexander Ball, Governor 
of Malta. This gallant officer behaved with great kindness 
to James, and after his capture by the Tripolitans, sent him 
porter, cheese, and other articles he wanted. I wrote to 
thank Governor Ball and pay him for what he so generously 
supplied James with, and nothing would have gratified me 
more than an opportunity of convincing him how much I 
considered myself obliged to him.* 

* Letter from Sir Alexander Ball. 

Mat.ta, 25th June, 1805. 

Sir : — I beg le;ive to offer you my sincere oongratulations on your son's 
release from Tripolitan slavery, and particularly on his having obtained it 
by a peace the most honorable ibr the United States. I am glad to find his 
health has not suffered by his exile, and with respect to liis mind, it is pro-: 
ble he will he will be a better and happier man by the adversity he has ex- 
perienced. 

I did not answer your letter acquainting me Avith your Avish to purchase 
your son's redemption, because I saw the necessity of" abstaining from an 
act that might raise tlie demands of the Bashaw and hurt tlie American 
cause. I was persuaded from your character that on this I should be antici- 
pating your patriotic spirit, more especially as I foresaw and predicted that 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 321 

One of the ladies retiirnino- from the theatre with me when 
stones were thrown at Mr. Bond's house, was Mrs. Ashley, 
an English ladj, who was very much alarmed, for I believe 
that she thought the stones were intended for her. Late 
that night a set of vagabonds went before Mr. Ashley's door 
and played the Rogue's March. Mr. Ashley, a very respec- 
table English merchant, thought they were complimenting 
hmi, and was going down to order them wine, when one of 
the servants told him the tune they were playing. 

In September this year, the ship Argo, from I?ew Orleans, ' ! ^^ 
bound to Philadelphia, struck a rock upon the Bahama Bank' 
and bilged. The crew and passengers took to their boats. 
The small boat was driven into the Gulf Stream, where they 
fell in with the ship Comet, Captain Dixey, on board of 
which was the Hon. Daniel Clarke,* the owner, who being in- / 
formed of the disaster, determined to cruise for the crew of 
the long boat, which they did for four days, when they were 
discovered on the Great Isaac Rock and taken on board the 
Comet. Mr. Clarke had property in the Comet to the amount 
of one hundred thousand dollars, which was jeopardized by 
his deviation. Mr. Wharton, who m'hs on boaixl the Argo 
when she was wrecked, having mentioned the generous and 
humane conduct of Mr. Clarke in a company where Mr. 
Henry Pratt, some others, and myself were spending the 
evening, we thought a public dinner ought to be given^im, 
and Mr. Pratt agreed to call upon me in^the morning, which 
he did. When we were near the house at which Mr. Clarke 
lodged, Pratt stopped. " Biddle," said he, " we are going to 
invite Mr. Clarke to a dinner in the name of the citizen's of 
Philadelphia, are we not?" "Yes." "And how do you 
know whether we can get subscribers." "That, I do not 

a persevering blockade oiihj would soon terminate tlie war to the honor of 
the United States. I beg you to command my services when they can be 
useful. I have the honor to be, with much esteem, 

Your most faithful and obedient servant, 
Chas. Biddle, Esq. Alex. J. Ball. 

* The Mr. Clarke who was afterwards so prominent in the controversy 
growing out of Burr's expedition. 
21 



322 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

know, but if we cannot get subscribers, we can get a com- 
pany, and you are rich and can pay for the dinner. If you 
do not choose that, I will pay one-half, for he deserves and 
must have a public dinner." We agreed to make up any 
deficiency, and went on to Mr. Clarke's lodging. He told us 
he had done nothing but what any other man would have 
done ; that, however, he could not refuse the honor done 
him, and would dine with us on any day we should agree 
upon. We appointed the 30th of October, when we gave 
him a splendid dinner. We had Messrs. Jeiferson and Bray 
from the theatre, and some others of the company that sang 
remarkabl}^ well. Most of the toasts were made by Major 
Jackson, who was often called upon on these occasions. The 
first was made by m}^ son William : — 

" Our distinguished guest ; the wreath of honor belongs to 
him who saves his fellow men." 

Mr. Clarke at this time had no difference with Wilkinson. 
He complained that both Burr and Wilkinson gave him a 
good deal of trouble about their affairs. A few days after 
the dinner given him, he went to Washington to attend 
Congress, of which he was a member. He had been there 
but a short time before he joined Randolph in everything he 
did to ruin Wilkinson. Mr. Clarke was friendly to Burr, 
and perhaps Wilkinson's conduct to that most unfortunate of 
men had some influence on Mr. Clarke. A transaction that 
Wilkinson would have been much gratified to hear, and 
which would probably have been of great service to him, 
came to my knowledge at this time, but as it was communi- 
cated in confidence I could not mention it. Wilkinson 
wrote me respecting his dispute with Clarke, and wanted to 
know if I could give him an}' information of what passed 
between Burr and him in Philadelphia. What I did know 
could not be communicated; I therefore did not answer him. 

Colonel Burr at this time kept himself concealed in a French 
boarding house. When I used to call of an evening to see 
him, he was generally alone with little light in his room. 
He was very pale and dejected ; how different from what he 
Jiad 'been a short time before when few persons in the city 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 323 

were not gratified at seeing him at their tables, where he was 
always one of the most lively and entertaining of the com- 
pany. It would not have surprised me on going there to 
have found he had ended his sufferings with a pistol. If 
ever man could be justified in committing such an act it M^as 
Colonel Burr. To have found he had could hardly have 
given me more pain than I have sometimes felt on seeing him 
in this melancholy situation. Groing one night to see him 
with a friend from l^ew York, we mistook the house, and as 
it was not customary to knock, we went upstairs and opened 
the door that we supposed to be his, when to our surprise we 
found ourselves in the bed-chamber of some ladies. We 
effected a retreat without any ill consequences. 

While in the city this time Mr. Burr was taken by the 
sheriflf at the suit of Mr. Wilkins, of Pittsburgh. Mr. Burr de- 
clared that he owed Wilkins nothing, that he (Wilking) had 
not complied with his contract. Late at night he was brought 
to my house, and the sherift' waited a considerable time with 
him and Mr. Pollock for me to come home. Mr. Pollock is 
a highly respectable gentleman, intimate in my family, a re- 
lation and friend of Colonel Burr, and a man of large fortune. 
It was very distressing to all my family to know that these 
gentlemen were in my office with the sheriff's officer. Colonel 
Burr was perfe^ctly composed; at this "time scarcely anything 
could disturb him. At length one of my neighbors was sent 
for, Mr. Hollowell, a gentleman of the Bar, who came imme- 
diately and pledged himself to be answerable for Mr. Burr's 
appearance in the morning. In the morning Mr. Pollock 
was accepted as the bail. Owing to some mistake of the 
plaintiff's attorney Mr. Pollock was discharged from the bail. 
Having suffered severely by being bail, I had made up my 
mind never to be security for any person whatever, but in 
this case I could not have seen Mr. Burr carried from my 
house to gaol. I would lend any money I had cheerfully, 
but not endorse a note, or run any risk of involving myself 
or family. 

Early in the year 1808, I was consulted by my friend 



324 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

Judge Jones about his son Richard's leaving the navy.* lie 
was at this time only a midshipman, commanding a gunboat 
at New York. As there was no prospect of a war, and he 
was about getting married, I advised him to leave the service. 

/ Our administration was unfriendly to a navy, and, in fact, to 

' ,' commerce. 

Having had much plague as executor to the estate of Mrs. 
Brodhead (before she married General Brodhead, the widow 
of Samuel Mifflin, Esq.) I did not intend ever acting again, 
but within a few j^ears past three of my old friends died 
leaving me their executors, Dr. Enoch Edwards, whom I 
formerly mentioned, General Jacob Morgan, and Joseph 
Donaldson, Esq., a respectable merchant. General Morgan 
was a friend of mine from my first going to sea. At one 
time he rendered me a very important service, by calling on 
me, and preventing my doing what I should ever after have 
regretted. He was Major to Dickinson's regiment, to whom 
the Quaker Light Infantry was attached. The General had 
been an officer in the Provincial service. He was a brave, 
active, intelligent officer, in whom the regiment had the utmost 
confidence. He was with us when the regiment was at 
Elizabethtown Point, and at the water side when we embarked 
on the expedition I have mentioned. One of the men who 
was to have gone with us was, or pretended to be, taken 
suddenly so ill just before we embarked that he could not go 
with us. Major Morgan would have gone in his room, but 
we all thought he was of too much importance in camp to 
leave it, and there were enough privates glad to go. The 
sick person is now, 1813, living and hearty. He had much 
better have insisted upon going, even if he had died in the 
boat, for whether he was really sick or not, he was suspected 
of being shy, and treated with some degree of contempt. As 

* Young Mr. Jones had been a prisoner at. Tripoli with James Biddle, 
afterwards Commodore Biddle, son of Charles Biddle. There were with 
them several other Philadelphians — James llenshaw, Benj. Franklin Reed, 
and Bernard Henry. The last named was father of the present Mr. Morton 
P. Heury of the Piiiladelphia Bar. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 325 

executor to the estate of General Morgan I bad but little 
trouble. 

I used frequently early in the morning this summer to take 
two or three of the boys with me in a chair near the Ui^per 
Ferry on the Schuylkill to learn them to swim. One morning 
after bathing and dressing myself I walked on, leaving the 
children, when they were dressed, to follow me in the chair. 
It was but little after sunrise. In crossino; the common I saw 
three shabby looking fellows coming towards me. After 
consulting together, one, who was lame, walked to a fence at 
some distance ; the other two who had bludgeons in their 
hands came directly towards me. I looked anxiously round 
the common to see if there was any person to call on, but 
none was to be seen but these vagabonds. I had in my hand 
a cane that had the appearance of a sword cane. As they 
drew near I stopped, and holding the cane in a position as if 
going to draw they very civilly inquired the time of day. 
Telling them I had no watch they passed me, when the fellow 
at the fence halloed out, " You damned cowardly rascals! you 
are afraid of one man." They then v^^alked up to him. By 
this time, although I did not quicken my pace, supposing if 
I had done so they would think me afraid and chase me, I 
was much pleased at reaching Market Street. If I had then 
met any person^to have joined me I would have pursued them, 
and if we could not have caught them all we would have 
got the lame fellow. I went after them when the boys over- 
took me with the chair, but they were not to be found. 
ISTothing prevented my being robbed and perhaps murdered, 
but my having a cane which they supposed was a sword cane. 

This year Mr. McKean's time expired as Governor of the 
State. Many of my friends thought I would obtain more 
votes than anj^ other Federal candidate, and therefore wished 
me to be set up. For my own part I had no wish to be 
Governor of the State had it been in my power ; it would 
have obliged me to live out of the city a great part of the 
year, which I did not wish. Mr. James Ross, of Pittsburgh, 
was fixed upon. He had been the candidate opposed to Gov- 
ernor McKean. As usual with men set up for public office 



326 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

they had many stories to tell against Mr. Ross, that he was a 
lancl-johher, a miser, and wliat was against him with some 
people, he was a lawyer. The Democrats, for what reason 
no one could tell, took np Simon Snyder ; they had many 
among them hotter qnaliiied. The only reason I ever heard 
assiirned for his being taken up was, that he was a German, 
and that they wanted a German Governor (the descendants 
from all other countries born in America call themselves 
Americans, and why these people should call themselves 
Germans I never could learn). The Germans are a very use- 
ful, good class of citizens, but I remember when a boy, when 
the Germans were much more numerous in the city than they 
now are it was a great disgrace to a boy to have it said a 
Dutch boy beat j-ou, even if he was much older and stouter. 
It is to be hoped the distinction will be dropped, and every 
man born in the country will be proud of calling himself an 
American. Mr. Snyder was elected, and such. a Governor no 
State could produce. I do not believe him a bad man, although 
much has been said against him ; but he has nothing to re- 
commend him to that station. Since his election to this time, 
now 1813, he has never been in the city. 

When the Legislature met, Mr. Dorsey of the Senate wrote 
to beg I would come up to Lancaster, and speak to the Gov- 
ernor about renewing my commission. He said the Gover- 
nor spoke of me in the most favorable terms. I informed 
him it would be inconvenient and, in my opinion, useless, to 
see Mr. Snyder. He then wished me to send up one of my 
sons, but as this w^as equally disagreeable, it was declined. 
The Governor in appointing a person in my room as Pro- 
thonotary, gave as a reason that there ought to be frequent 
changes in a Republican government, that although no fault 
whatever could be found with me, I had held the otfice for 
many years. Long before this, I wished to resign the office, 
but as there were fees due to me to a large amount, I wished 
to have a successor who would collect them for me, and not 
keep them himself The tax on the office had made it of lit- 
tle value. The first notice I had of my removal, was seeing 
a notice in the Democratic Press, that Frederick Wolbert 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 327 

was appointed Protbonotaiy for the county of Philadelphia. 
The next day Mr. Wolbert called upon me. He declared he 
never made any application for the office, how much he re- 
spected and esteemed me, and that he would agree to any 
arrangement I pleased to make. As he was a man who I 
thought would take some pains to collect my fees, his ap- 
pointment was not disagreeable to me ; but no man that is in 
embarrassed circumstances should be appointed to an office 
where he is to receive public money. Mr. Wolbert was soon 
obliged to resign, or was dismissed for' not settling his 
accounts. The last ten months that I was in office, I 
paid in over three thousand dollars, as will be seen by the 
treasury accounts. 

It was early in this year that Mr. Sloan, of Jersey, made a 
motion for a removal of the seat of government from Wash- 
ington to Philadelphia, and it had nearly carried. I was 
always of opinion that Trenton would have been a hiuch 
better place than either Washington or Philadelphia. It is 
situated between Philadelphia and ISTew York, in a fine; 
pleasant, healthy country. Washington, notwithstanding all 
that can be said in favor of it, I believe would never have 
been thought of for the seat of government, but for the good 
and o-reat man it is called after. MadHime Pechon, wife of 
Mr. Pechon, Charge d'Affiiires of France, told me that when i 
she first went lo Washington, it was late in the night, the 
roads excessively bad, and very dark before they got there. 
Some time before they reached the tavern, she called to the 
coachman, " How long before you get to Washington ?" 
" Why, madame," says the fellow, " you have been in Wash- 
ington this hour." She had not seen a house. 

In the beginning of December of this year, in walking 
from the Cotfee House, the conversation turned upon the 
advantage it would be to the country, if we could get an 
office established for the insurance of lives, granting annui- 
ties, reversions, etc. We met the next day and agreed to 
call a meeting of some of our friends and acquaintances, 
which we did that evening. Messrs. Paul Beck, Edward 
Burd, S. Meeker, W. Qaw, A. Denman, M. Levy, David 



328 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Lewis, Robert Wain, E. Kane, Henry Pratt, William Poyn- 
tell, and myself agreed to be managers. We opened a sub- 
scription a few days afterwards for a capital of half a million 
of dollars. As the citizens had co-nfidence in the managers, 
it was tilled immediately, and a much larger sum could have 
been obtained. Such a number came forward to subscribe 
that we were obliged to limit the number of shares each per- 
son should have. It was with difficulty we could keep the 
crowd off. We sent two gentlemen up to Lancaster to get 
an act of incorporation. The Legislature would have passed 
the act we wanted, but another company being formed, the 
members of the Legislature supposed it would be very profit- 
able, and postponed the Ijill until the next session. As we 
only wanted to see such a company formed, and as the others 
applied, we gave ourselves no further concern about the bill. 
One of the gentlemen who went up said that during the 
debate on the bill, one of the German members spoke against 
it. " Mr. Speaker, I am against dis bill, and I will tell you 
for what. If you bass dis bill, old McKean* will get his life 
insured, and so we shall never get rid of him." This was 
not to be got over. At the next session the bill of the other 
company was lost by a small majority. The session after- 
wards, they obtained an act but with many alterations made 
by persons totally unacquainted with the business. 

In May, 1810, Mrs. Spaight, the widow of Governor 
Spaight, who came from JJsTorth Carolina the summer of 
1809, sent for me to consult with me about her children, two 
sons and a daughter. When I waited upon her she com- 
plained of a cold and a slight pain in her breast ; she spoke 
cheerfully, and I did not suppose her by any means danger- 
ously ill. After some conversation about the children, I left 
her. Two days after, the person she lodged with sent me 
word she was dead. She was a most amiable woman, and a 
few years before her death one of the most lovely of her sex ; 
but from the time of the death of the Governor until her 
own she was very seldom out of her room, and she kept her 

* Then Governor of tlie State. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 329 

children constantly with her, never letting them go outside 
of the door. Had she lived a few years longer, she would 
have destroyed their constitutions. When they were left to 
my care, I had them taken out every day when the weather 
would permit it, and sent a few miles from the city in a 
healthy part of the country, and they are now fine, hearty 
children. Their father, Governor Spaight, was killed in a 
duel hy John Stanley, Esq., since that time a memher of Con- 
gress. The Governor, as well as myself, were intimate with 
the father of Mr. Stanley, and had often heen at the house 
together when the son was a child. The duel was occasioned 
by some good-natured friends carrying tales from one to the 
other. The duel would have terminated without injury to 
either party, but for a scoundrel that was second to the Gov- 
ernor. The}^ fought on the Common, near Newbern, and 
great numbers of the inhabitants were looking on. Some of 
them would have interfered, but this rascal of a second sVore 
he would shoot any man who attempted to do so. They 
fired five shots before Mr. Stanley's took eftect. The Gover- 
nor some years before this fatal duel had been extremely ill, 
so much so that he was reduced to a skeleton, and as helpless 
as a child of a month old. The first physicians on the con- 
tinent were consulted, but they could doliothingfor him, and 
gave him up as incurable. Some person recommended him 
to apply to Mrs. Bran, a woman well known at that time in 
the city, as is her daughter Patty now (1813). Mrs. Bran 
made a perfect cure of him, and for some years before his 
death he was as hearty a man as any in the world. He was 
broken out in sores all over his face, all his limbs and body, 
so that from being a handsome, he was a most miserable 
object. I believe it was with malt tea she made the cure. 

A short time before the election this year a committee of 
the City Conference called on me to know if I would consent 
to be run as State Senator. They were pleased to say they 
could carry me, and that they did not know an}^ other Feder- 
alist they could get elected. I told them there were other 
gentlemen who would command as many, and perhaps more 
votes than myself, and, if elected, it would be disagreeable to 



330 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

me to spend the winter at Lancaster; I must, therefore, 
request they would place some other person on the ticket. 
Going soon afterwards a journey in the country, I was sur- 
prised upon my return to find my name on the ticket to be 
run as Senator. Mrs. Biddle advised my sending to the 
Committee to request they would put some other person on 
the ticket in my room, but, as I had no expectation what- 
ever of being elected, I declined it. To my surprise the 
ticket was carried by some hundreds. My son Nicholas was 
at the same time elected a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. Mr. B and some of my Democratic acquain- 
tances said it was they who occasioned my being elected. I 
thought that its being known that I was opposed to the 
Meclianics and Commercial banks, then applying for charters, 
would have prevented my election. Enos Clark, an honest 
Irish tenant of mine, called on me the morning of the elec- 
tion in much distress. He said just as he was putting in his 
ticket, one of his friends called to him to come down ; that 
he put in the ticket and came to him, when he said : " Clark, 
do you know what you have been doing ?" " Yes, to be sure, 

I have been putting in the ticket that D. S gave me, and 

he, you know, is one of us." "Damn you; do you know 
you have been voting against your landlord, who has been 
so kind, and so good to your family ?" " I hope it is not so, 
Mr, Biddle, for I would not do that for all the world." I 
comforted this good fellow by assuring him that on this 
occasion I did not want his vote. 

At the opening of the session I went to Lancaster with 
Mr. Barclay, of the Senate, and Messrs. Morgan and McEuen, 
of the House of Representatives. We agreed to lodge at 
Slough's,* who we knew kept an excellent house, and we 

* When Judge Jones and myself were going to the Virginia Springs, just 
before we readied Lancaster we overtook Mr. Edward Badger, a young 
lawyer of Philadelphia. He was talking to a countryman. AVhen he joined 
us at the tavern he told us he had a curious conversation with the farmer, 
who inquired where he intended to put up in Lancaster. Badger told him 
he did not know, he was a stranger. Well, says the farmer, come with me to 
Adam Weaver's, he keeps a very good house. Badger told him he heard Mr. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 331 

could not possibly have been better accommodated than at 
this house. Mr. Slough had been a captain in the army 
under General St. Clair, and was shot through the body at 
the time the General was defeated by the Indians. ISTot with- 
standing this he was remarkably strong and active, and very 
attentive to his guests. 

The most important business that was before the Legisla- 
ture this session was the application of the Trustees of the 
Bank of the United States for a charter. This they did after 
Congress had refused to renew their charter. Although I 
had some doubt whether giving them a charter would not be 
a disadvantage to the Bank of Pennsylvania, of which I was, 
and had been ever since it was first instituted, a director, I 
thought it would be of advantage to the State, and, therefore, 
voted, and used what interest I had for it. My son in the 
House of Representatives made a speech in favor of it that 
was much admired. But there was a majority of both 
Houses who were informed that the shares were held by 
foreigners, and who thought the shares should be held by our 
own citizens. The refusing to grant the charter I considered 
as a loss to the State of the sum the trustees would have 
given, which was six hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Girard 
bought the banking house, which he has opened on his own 
account. Our Government acted a shameful part in selling 
out the shares belonging to the United States at an advance 
of forty -five per cent, shortly before the charter expired, and 
then refusing to renew it. 

One evening during this session, Mr. Barclay, Senator from 
the county of Philadelphia, sent over to Slough's to request 
I would come to the House immediately, as the question was 
about being taken on a bill he was ver}^ anxious should pass. 
I went over with the doorkeeper, and took with me Mr. 
Brady, a member of the Senate, who happened to be at 

Slough kept a very good house. " Oh yes, be sure, Slough he keeps a good 
house, but tliat won't do for you and me, for none but gentlemen go there." 
Badger had on a short jacket, which he declared he would never ride in 
ajjain. — Authok's note. 



332 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

Slough's. When we went into the Senate I offered a new 
section to the bill, which Mr. Barclay opiDosing, Brady and 
myself voted against his bill. Had he not sent for us he 
would have carried his bill. 

At the end of this session I intended to resign my seat, 
but some of my friends, having business in the Legislature, 
begged me to serve the next session, but it was with much 
reluctance that I consented. My son Nicholas being engaged 
to be married, refused standing a candidate for the House of 
Representatives. In October he was happily married.* 
Charles had married a few years before equally to my sat- 
isfaction, f 

At the anniversary meeting of the Cincinnati this year, 
1811, I offered the following resolution, which was unani- 
mously adopted :— 

Resolved^ That a committee of this society be appointed to 
prepare a plan for raising by subscription such a sum of money 
as they shall deem sufficient for erecting a monument to the 
memory of the late Father of his Country, General George 
Washington. That the plan, when prepared, shall be submitted 
to the standing committee, and when approved by them, shall 

be carried into effect. That ■ be a committee for the 

above purpose. 

The blank was afterwards filled up with the names of Major 
Lenox, Judge Peters, Major Jackson, Mr. Biddle, and Mr. 
Binney. 

The committee agreed to the following address and plan:— 

To the People of Pennsylvania. 

Friends, Countrymen, and Fellow-citizens. 
Under a deep and heartfelt impression of its proprietj^, and 
as the most grateful subject that could engage their atten- 
tion, the preceding resolution was unanimously adopted by 
the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati. As a por- 
tion of the surviving military associates of the immortal 

* To Miss Jane M. Craig, daughter of Mr. John Craig. 
t To Miss Ann II. Stokes, daughter of Mr. James Stokes. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 333 

Washington, they believed they should render an acceptable 
service to their fellow-citizens by becoming the organs of 
their wish to consecrate the memory of the patriot, hero, and 
statesman, who was not only the boast and delight of our 
nation, but an object of veneration to all mankind. 

As the committee appointed to carry the resolution of the 
society into effect, it is our pleasing duty at this time to 
address you, and as no argument could be adduced to increase 
the influence which expands every American heart with grati- 
tude, love, and reverence for the great Father of our Country, 
we beg leave to submit to your consideration the annexed 
plan for erecting a monument to perpetuate the remembrance 
of his glorious achievements, and to transmit to posterity the 
grateful expression of a people's love. 

(Signed) David Lenox, 

Richard Peters, 
William Jackson,' 
Charles Biddle, 
Horace Binney. 

Plan. 

First. In order to make the proposed monument a peculiar 
testimony of the veneration in which our immortal patiiot is 
held by the citizens of the Commonwealth, it is the intention 
of the Cincinnati* not to solicit contributions from persons 
who do not reside in Pennsylvania, but to make application 
to citizens of this State as particularly as possible, and to 
give to every one an opportunity within his own county of 
offering his donation to persons acting under the appoint- 
ment of the society ; with this view books will be sent to two 
or more persons in each organized county in the State with a 
request that they will receive subscriptions for the object. 
Similar books will be committed with a like request to several 
of the citizens of Philadelphia, and after the books are 
closed, which will be on the fifth of July, 1812, they will be 
deposited among the archives of the society, as a perpetual 
memorial of such of the citizens of this State as had virtue 
to honor the illustrious character of General Washiijgton, 



334 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

and gratitude to consecrate a portion of their means to this 
lasting commemoration of his services. 

SecQnd. Subscribers under twenty dollars will pay their 
subscriptions at the time they are made ; for, or above that 
sum, they may j^ay it when it is made, or when they shall 
afterwards be called upon for that purpose. 

Third. All moneys received will be forwarded or handed 
over to Charles Biddle, Esq., Treasurer of the Cincinnati of 
Pennsylvania, and by him be deposited in one of the banks of 
the city of Philadelphia, subject only to the draft of a 
majority of the committee. 

Fourth. As soon as the books are closed and the amount 
of subscriptions ascertained, the committee will proceed with 
the utmost promptitude to carry the resolution into etiect. 
The splendor of the monument must depend essentially upon 
the extent of the subscriptions. But the committee have no 
doubt that neither the affection nor the pride of Pennsyl- 
vania will be satisfied with any memorial which shall not be 
w^orthy, in some small degree, of the hero it is to commemorate. 

When the books were ready Majors Lenox and Jackson, 
and myself went to every ward in the city, and engaged eight 
gentlemen in each ward to go round their wards and obtain 
subscriptions. We also procured twenty-four gentlemen in 
Southwark, and as maiiy in the ^Northern Liberties for the 
collection in their districts, and we forwarded books to the 
several counties in the State. In order to prevent it being 
considered a party affair we chose gentlemen of each party to 
collect subscriptions. To forward the business my son 
Nicholas delivered an oration, which was mvich admired.* 

At the commencement of the session I attended the Legis- 
lature at Lancaster. The trustees of the Bank of the United 
States again endeavored to procure a charter from the State, 
but in vain ; the real or pretended fear of British influence 
prevented anything being done. Had the charter been granted, 
it would have been of great advantage in improving the State, 

* The monument is at this time (1883) being cast in Germany, and is to 
be phiced in Fairmount Park. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 335 

and it would have prevented the Legislature from chartering 
such a number of banks as they have since done. 

Some violent resolutions were brought forward by Mr. 
Gemmil in the Senate, and adopted by both Houses of the 
Legislature. The Federalists wanted to have France, who 
in my opinion behaved much worse than the British, included 
in the resolutions, but they could not. I believe these resolu- 
tions occasioned the war, as our Senators at "Washington 
would not have voted for it but for them. Mr. Gemmil, who 
introduced them into the Senate, was a clergyman from 
Chester County, a man of talents and highly respectable, but 
a most bitter enemy to the British Government. I believe 
he imbibed these prejudices from some renegade Englishmen, 
who spoke of their administration as the most corrupt upon 
earth. I always found those wretches more violent against 
their country than any American. 

At the end of the session wlien I returned to the city, it 
was the general opinion we should not have a war. T, how- 
ever, thought otherwise, for it was pretty certain if we did 
not, that the present administration w^ould be turned out. 
Mr. Madison, I believe, did not wish for war, but he wanted 
firmness to oppose such men as Giles, Williams, Clay, and a 
few others, who supposed they could soon bring Great Britain 
to their own terms. ]Slr. Porter, a member of Cono-ress from 
the neighborhood of Canada, declared we had nothing to do 
but send a few men there and erect a standard, and the w^hole 
country would join us. The probability of a w^ar induced 
my son Thomas to solicit me to permit him to join the army. 
This I reluctantly consented to, and he obtained a captain's 
commission in Colonel Pike's regiment. Colonel Izard soon 
after wishing him in his regiment, and Thomas consenting, 
he was transferred from the infantry to the artillery. As 
soon as war was declared my son John told me he must go in 
the army. I was much more averse to his going than to his 
brother Thomas, as his temper was too warm, and I knew he 
frequently took offence when none was intended. He ap- 
peared, however, so unhappy that I was obliged to consent, 
and his brother iS'icholas writing to Mr. Monroe, he had a 



336 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

commission sent him of second lieutenant in the Third Regi- 
ment of Artillery, commanded by Colonel McComb. James 
not being attached to any ship, went to 'New York to ofl'er 
his services as a volnnteer with Commodore Rodgers. He, 
however, notwithstanding his utmost exertions, and no per- 
son could have made more, did not arrive in New York until 
Rodgers had got to Sandy Hook. He hired a boat but could 
not get on board. 

In the unprepared state of our country I was much opposed 
to the war, and I was of opinion that although we had cause 
of complaint against Great Britain we had much more against 
France. 

As parties ran high I expected we should have some dis- 
turbances, and therefore wished to see the citizens above the 
age of forty-live associated in order to preserve the peace of 
the cit3\ I had spoken to some gentlemen on this subject, 
when I observed in one of the Democratic papers a meeting 
called at Oellers's tavern, next door to me. As the notice 
was general for all those above the age prescribed for mili- 
tary duty, I went there. The room was full ; all of them 
were our warmest Democrats. Among them were Messrs. 
Matlack, Barker, Mayor of the city, Leiper, Patterson, Smily, 
Brown, etc. As I was well acquainted with these citizens 
they all expressed themselves glad to see me. Soon after my 
entrance it was proposed having the meeting organized. I 
was unanimously called to the chair, and George A. Baker, 
Esq., ap»pointed Secretar3^ As soon as I mentioned that we 
were ready for business, and requested whoever had given 
the notice to come forward with his plan for an association, 
immediately a little, dark-looking foreigner came forward, 
and, with much ceremony, handed me a paper which he 
begged should be read. It began : — 

" Whereas, our beloved country being involved in a war 
with the most cruel enemy upon earth, and, whereas, we have 
a great many traitors among us. Therefore Resolved." Here 
followed a number of violent resolutions against what he 
called the friends of Great Britain. It provoked me to hear 
a fellow lately come among us talk of our " beloved country," 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 337 

After reading them myself I put them in my pocket, telling 
him, with a look of contempt, that it was not the intention 
of the meeting to enter into such resolutions, but for the 
purpose of associating to preserve the peace of the city, or 
defending it in case of attack. He appeared much mortified, 
but retired without saying anything. If I had not been at 
the meeting it is probable these resolutions would have been 
carried unanimously. This man's name was Puglia ; I believe 
he belonged to the Board of Health. After some time it was 
observed that a meeting to form an association was to be 
held at the Indian King in a few days, and we adjourned to 
meet there. Before this meeting took place I prepared some 
resolutions which I knew could, by my speaking to a few of the 
members, be easily carried. We met at the Indian King on 
the first of July ; there were present a great many respectable 
citizens of both parties, and there were some that did no 
credit to the party thej^ belonged to ; amongst these was Mr. 
Puglia. At this meeting I was called to the chair, which 
as soon as I had taken Mr. Huston, a stout man, whom 
Puglia had oftended at Oellers's, came up to me, and asked 
me if I would allow him to kick Puglia out of the room. 
It was with some difficulty I could persuade him to let him 
alone, that he was not worth his notice. We passed the 
following resolutions unanimously: — 

Resolved^ That in the present interesting situation of our 
country it is the duty of every man to contribute by all the 
means in his power to promote the public welfare ; that an 
association of the citizens of Philadelphia, the ISTorthern 
Liberties, and Southwark, above the age prescribed by law 
for the performance of militia duty, to aid the civil authority 
in the preservation of domestic order and tranquillity, and 
for the defence of tlie City and Liberties in the absence of the 
3'ounger citizens, would be highly expedient. 

Resolved^ That the members of this meeting hereby agree 
to form an association for said purpose, and that the follow- 
ing persons be a committee to prepare a plan for organizing 
this Association, viz., Charles Biddle, Chairman ; for the City, 
John Miller, Alex. Cook, George A. Baker, John Barker, 

22 



338 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Wm. "Wray, Paul Beck, B. McMahon, R. Patterson, Wm. 
Smiley, Conrad Hance, Levi Ilollingsworth, J. E. Smith, Cap- 
tain Wm. Jones, and John Douglass. We also appointed 
seven from the ]^orthern Liberties, and as many from South- 
wark. We passed other resolutions that when the Com- 
mittee were ready to rej)ort they should call a meeting at the 
State House. After several meetings we agreed upon a plan, 
and met at the State House to carry it into effect ; but before 
we held this meeting there were several violent publications 
by the Society of American Republicans reprobating the war, 
and abusing the administration. This gave great offence to 
some of the Democrats, and we were not by any means as 
sociable as before. One of the Democrats proposed we should 
call ourselves " The Friends of Government ;" one of the 
Federalists that we should be called " Supporters of the Law." 
For my own part I thought it of little consequence. We at 
last broke up without doing anything. 

One evening in August hearing there was a mob in Dock 
Street going to tar and feather an Englishman for sa^ang 
something against the Americans, I went there with Mr. 
Keppele, the Mayor. We found a great concourse of people, 
most of whom were for punishing the poor devil, particularly 
a man of the name of Alcorn, who said the fellow was an 
Orangeman. I inquired of the man what he had said or done. 
He declared that he had said nothing ; that the man who 
occasioned his being taken up was a ladies' shoemaker, and 
that they had a dispute as to which was the best workman. 
Finding he was in liquor, we thought it best to lodge him in 
gaol and bind over Alcorn to keep the peace. The binding 
over this man, it is probable, put an end to any further dis- 
turbance during the summer. We had in the city at this 
time a number of vagabonds who would have been pleased to 
see the same proceedings here that had disgraced Baltimore 
the year before. 

Expecting there would be some disturbance at the election, 
I advised Mr. Keppele, the Mayor, to hire a few men to assist 
the constables in keeping the peace. This he did. On the 
day of the election Alcorn marched up at the head of a pack 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 339 

of shoemakers. The Mayor met him, and there had like to 
have been a serious scuffle. Alcorn and his gang passed on, 
and after voting dispersed. In the evening seeing a number 
of people going into the Court House, where I knew Mr. 
Keppele then was, and apprehending some disturbance, I 
went over. When within the door, seeing Captain Sprogel and 
a few others who could be depended on, I desired they would 
prevent any more from entering ; this with great difficulty 
they did. About nine o'clock the crowd about the door 
had increased very much, and they wei-e very clamorous. 
One man whose name was Reynolds, who from his size was 
called Big Ben, was let into the room where the Mayor, Mr. 
Wharton, and a few others of us were assembled. He told 
us that he was as desirous to have the election conducted in 
a peaceable manner as any man in the city, that if the Mayor 
and Mr. Wharton would go home he would pledge himself 
that the people at the door should disperse, and no injury be 
done ; but if they did not go home he believed both their 
houses would be pulled down, and then addressing me, he 
said, "And the people are very much displeased with you, 
Mr. Biddle, for they think the Mayor is directed altogether by 
you." I told him that as to what the people, as he called the 
mob at the door, thought, it was a matter of perfect indifference 
to me ; and inquired if the people at the door, without Mr. 
Keppele and Mr. Vharton going home, could not be dispersed. 
He said he believed not. " And what do you intend to do?" 
" To stand by the people." " What, whether they are right 
or wrong ?" He answered, yes. I then gave it as my opinton 
that it would be both dangerous and disgraceful for the Mayor 
to go home, or any of those with him, and requested Reynolds 
to retire, which he immediately did. I now thought of poor 
Lingan murdered at Baltimore.* Mr. Wharton told me after- 
vv'ards that he was also thinking of the massacre at Baltimore, 
and he thought it probable if the villains at the door broke 

* In the political riots in Baltimore, in 1812, General Lingan was killed, 
and General Lee, Light Horse Harry Lee of the Revolution, was crippled 
for life. 



340 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

in, we should be treated as bad as those in gaol were at that 
place. At this time Captain Morrel came to me and said, 
" Mr. Biddle, only give the word, and Captain Ross, Cadwal- 
ader, and some others of the Light Horse are ready, and will 
be here in a few minutes and disperse these fellows. I was 
much pleased to hear this, but wishing to prevent the effu- 
sion of blood, and believing we could keep the door from be- 
ing forced, I thought it best for them to remain ready to act. 
I was sorry afterwards we had not directed the horse to gallop 
to the door, and halt before it, to see the rascals run. We all 
went quietly home about eleven o'clock. The Democrats 
carried the election by a large ma;jority, which I believe was 
in a great measure owing to the Federalists leaving the 
ground at an early hour, and this has frequently occasioned 
the loss of the election. 

The President of the United States this year appointed me 
one of the Commissioners for signing the Treasury Notes. 
When Mr. Smith, the Cashier of the Bank of Pennsylvania, 
mentioned this to me, I told him there must be some mistake. 
He, however, answered me that it was so. This was a busi- 
ness I did not want to have anything to do with ; however, 
having three sons in the service, I thought the refusing to 
sign the notes would appear as if I was unfriendly to the ad- 
ministration. This induced me to sign them. Before sign- 
ing them, I did not suppose I could have written my name 
so often in a day. Some days I signed fourteen hundred ; and 
one day eighteen hundred. 

At the time I was preparing to set oif for the Legislature I 
was informed that there was a memorial sent to the Speaker 
of the Senate, requesting that an inquiry should be made 
whether my signing these notes did not vacate my seat as a 
Senator. Upon conversing with some of my friends on this 
subject, T found they diftered in opinion. Mr. Ligersoll, the 
Attorney-General, when I first spoke to him, laughed at it ; 
but he afterwards thought it was such an appointment as did 
vacate the seat. His altering his opinion it was thought by 
some gentlemen was owing to his conversing with his son 
Charles about it. As Charles was a Democrat, perhaps he 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 341 

was consulted before the memorial was signed, I do not mean 
any reflection on Mr. IngersoU, who is a worthy and highly 
respectable man. I waited in the city until the Legislature 
adjourned for the holidays. An influential member told a 
friend of mine that it was not worth while for me to go up, 
for he knew there was a large majority in the Senate who 
considered signing the notes as vacating the seat, and 
who would vote accordingly ; and that he was very sorry it 
was so. JSTotwithstanding this, the wishes of my family, and 
my not caring how the Senate should vote, I considered it 
my duty to go up to prevent this being brought into a prece- 
dent. I therefore sat off one of the coldest days we had in 
January, When we reached Downingtown a gentleman 
from Harrisburg handed me a letter from Mr. Lane, the 
Speaker of the Senate, informing me that the Committee had 
reported the seat vacated. Notwithstanding this I was de- 
termined to proceed, "When the sleigh was about a mile from 
Downingtown, Mr. Morgan, a friend of mine, going to put on 
his gloves, found he had left them at the tavern. I laughed 
at him, and observed he must be a very thoughtless fellow to 
leave his gloves such an extra cold day. As my ears at this 
time felt very cold I went to put my great coat round them, 
when I found it was also left at the tavern. Upon my arrival 
at Harrisburg I went immediately to the Senate and soon 
found my seat -should not be considered as vacated, a large 
majority coming round me and expressing their satisfaction 
at my appearance amongst them. The report of the Com- 
mittee was taken up a few days after my being in the Senate. 
On this occasion Mr. Gemrail made a speech that affected the 
audience very much. After expressing his opinion very fully 
upon my right to retain the seat, he spoke of my family, 
mentioned my three sons then in the service, of Edward 
whom I had lost with Commodore Truxtun, of my brother 
lost in the Randolph, and something flattering of me. Mr. 
Beale, who was in the chair, was a considerable time before 
he could speak. After some time Mr. Weaver answered Mr, 
Gemmil. He declared there was no member of the Senate 
had a higher opinion or greater esteem and respect than he 



342 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

had for Mr. Biddle, but that he was sworn to support the Con- 
stitution, and he believed the appointment given tome by the 
President vacated my seat. The question was then taken and 
decided against the report. When the Speaker resumed the 
chair the yeas and nays were called for on adopting the re- 
port of the Committee of the Whole, and were as follows : 
Yeas, Messrs. Baird, Barclay, Beale, Brady, Burnside, Erwin, 
Gemmil, Graham, Gross, Hamilton^ Laird, Lowrie, IS'ewbold, 
Roe, Rehm, Ralston, Watson, Wilson, Lane, Speaker — twenty, 
The Nays were Messrs. Bender, Gilliland, McFarland, Shoe- 
maker, Smith, Stroman, Weaver, Worrel— eight. So it was 
determined that the seat was not vacated. The eight who 
voted against the vote of the Committee all came up to me 
after the question was taken and expressed their satisfaction 
at the report being adopted, and except one I believe they 
really were so. 

I lodged this session at Harrisburg with my old friend, 
Captain Graydon, a gentleman who has published his 
memoirs, in which he has mentioned an affair that happened 
at the commencement of our Revolutionary war: we went 
out to fire at a mark, and my ball striking a child at a great 
distance. He also mentions the assistance I gave him in get- 
ting him appointed Prothonotary for Dauphin County. 

This session the Legislature voted a sword to my son 
James, for his gallant conduct on board the Wasp when she 
captured the Frolic. 

Towards the close of the session, I was anxious to have 
some provision made for the defence of the Delaware, and 

for this purpose read a bill in the Senate granting 

dollars for the defence of the bay and river Delaware. The 
blank for a small sum would have been readily filled, but 
when I moved to fill the blank with a hundred thousand 
dollars, most of the members thought it too high and voted 
against it. They would have given ten thousand dollars, but 
I thought it was not worth while to take so small a sum, and 
therefore had the bill postponed. 

Soon after my return to the city, the Secretary of the IS'avy 
wrote to my son James to know if he would take command 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 343 

of the flotilla fitting out for the defence of the Delaware. 
James accepted the command with pleasure. This made me 
more anxious than I was before to have a suflacient force to 
meet any attack the British should make. A few who were 
as desirous as myself to have something done, had two or 
three meetings without being able to effect anything. After 
the brutal conduct of the British at Havre de Grace, about 
twenty of us met at the Coffee House and subscribed one 
hundred dollars each. At this meeting it was the opinion 
of Mr. Daniel W. Coxe and some others, that if I would take 
the chair we could have committees appointed in each ward 
and the Districts, and we could have a sufficient sum collected 
to build what barges we should want, and some galleys that 
would answer our purposes much better than Mr. Jefferson's 
gun boats, which were not by any means equal to those we 
had during the Revolutionary war. I took the chair, and 
Mr. John Sergeant acted as secretary. At this meeting, 
which was held the 6th of May, 1813, the following gentle- 
men were appointed a committee to assist the officers of gov- 
ernment in building barges, and manning the flotilla, viz : 
Charles Biddle, Henry Pratt, Daniel W. Coxe, Henry Hawk- 
ins, Charles McCallister, Robert Wain, Chandler Price, James 
Josiah, Richard Dale, David Lenox, William McFadden, 
John Connolly, Thomas W. Francis, Manuel Eyre, and Dan- 
iel Smith. Major Lenox and Mr. Smith never met the com- 
mittee. We had committees appointed in each ward and 
district, and had a handsome sum collected, but we found 
that many of our richest citizens gave little or nothing. We 
therefore presented a memorial to our City Councils, and 
with some difficulty got them to agree to give us thirty 
thousand dollars, upon which we determined to return the 
money we had collected from our generous fellow citizens, 
many of whom had paid more than they could aftbrd. We 
built six large barges, much superior to any the British had, 
and a schooner. We procured some seamen from New York. 
The barges and schooner went down the river about the mid- 
dle of June. As these would protect the inhabitants near 
the shore from the British barges, they had now no pretence 



344 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

for supplying them with anything ; before we could give 
them this protection, we had no right to complain of their 
connection with the enemy. After the barges got down, we 
heard no more of the British burning our craft coming up 
with wood and lumber. 

About this time the Secretary of War, Armstrong, wrote 
General Bloomfield, that if the city would advance sixteen 
or twenty thousand dollars, he would build a fort at the Pea 
Patch. I had some time before mentioned to (xeneral Bloom- 
field the importance of having a strong fort at this place, 
believing it would forever prevent the British from making 
an attack upon Philadelphia, and would be a protection to 
New Castle and Wilmington. The Secretary mentioned 
further, that if we would get a cession of the soil and juris- 
diction, he would return the money advanced. I thought 
this of so much importance, that I agreed to go with General 
Bloomfield to Dover, where the Legislature was in session. 
To them we applied, and with the assistance of Mr. George 
Read, we got a law passed giving the United States the soil 
and jurisdiction. The expectation of a peace prevented any- 
thing further being done. The Committee got the Secretary 
of the !N"avy to take the barges, schooner, etc., on account 
of the United States, so that the city was at very little ex- 
pense and had the shallops coming up from the bay eftectually 
protected from the enemy. 

The Legislature meeting the first Tuesday in December, I 
sat oli" on Monday the 6th, and arrived there the next day. 
In crossing the Swatara we were very near being overset in 
the middle of the creek, and if we had, some of us must have 
perished, as it was very cold, the creek high, and the stage 
full, with the curtains all fastened down. We soon, however, 
tore the curtains loose. Expecting we should have to swim 
I stripped my clothes off. A boat coming to our assistance 
we got safely on shore. At this time they were building a 
bridge which was so far finished that we passed over it on 
our return to the city at Christmas. 

At this session we passed a law for establishing a number 
of banks, which the members from most of the counties were 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 345 

anxious to have. I thought that in some of the counties 
banks would he useful, and would liave voted for them ; hut 
this bill I thought would be injurious, and therefore voted 
against it. By an agreement among the members they carried 
it by a large majority. " Do you vote for the bank in my 
county, and I will vote for yours ;" and this, although they 
must have known the bill would be against the interest of 
the State, by lessening the value of their stock in the other 
banks they had so much of their money invested in. The 
Governor, with great firmness, did everything in his power to 
prevent the bill from passing, but he could not do it. He 
returned the bill to the House of Representatives, where it 
originated, with his reasons for not signing it, but they had 
a majority of more than two-thirds, and soon passed it. In 
the Senate it had nearly been lost. Mr. Gemmil was sick in 
Harrisburg, and we tried to get him out, but he was too 
unwell to leave his room. His vote would have desti'oyed 
the bill. 

Upon my arrival at Harrisburg after the holidays, I found 
my old acquaintance General St. Clair. He had applied to 
several members of the Senate from the "Western counties, in 
one of which he resided, to present a petition praying. for an 
alteration in a law passed in his favor. But the General was 
unpopular in those counties ever since his defeat by the In- 
dians, and he could get none of the members to present his 
petition. When this was told to me I called on him, received 
his petition, and presented it, and upon my application to the 
Committee, got them to report a bill in his favor. Some of 
his friends and myself had a good deal of ditficulty in getting 
the bill passed the House of Representatives. It was, how- 
ever, done, and the General went home in high spirits. He 
had served his country faithfully in the field, and as Speaker 
of the House of Representatives of the United States, but was 
now so much reduced as to live in a miserable hut on the 
Allegheny, where, it is said, he sold whisky and entertained 
foot travellers with lodging. He was now upwards of eighty 
years of age. 

James O'Hara, an old Revolutionary soldier who had been 



346 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 

applying in vain to Congress for a pension, begged me to try 
if he could not be put on the State pension list, but as he 
belonged to Hazen's regiment there was some doubt about his 
being entitled to anything from the State of Pennsylvania. 
I presented his petition and had it referred to a committee 
who reported a bill in his favor. Upon reading the bill a 
second time, I mentioned that I had known O'Hara for a 
great number of years, that he was a quiet orderly man, and 
was old and infirm. Mr. Barclay, who sat near me, said in a 
low voice, " O'llara lives near me in the Northern Liberties. 
He is a noisy vagabond." Mr. Watson, a member from Lan- 
caster, got up immediately, and observed, " There must be 
some mistake about this O'Hara. The gentleman from the 
city says he is a quiet, orderly man. The gentleman from 
the county, who lives in the Northern Liberties near one 
James O'Hara, says he is a noisy, worthless vagabond. They 
cannot mean the same man. We had better postpone the 
bill generally." While Mr. Watson was speaking. General 
Baird, who was anxious that O'Hara should get the pension, 
came round to me, and begged me to have the bill postponed 
for the present, until we could speak to Watson. I told him 
to make himself easy, as Watson should soon be satisfied. 
When he sat down I told the House that Mr. Barclay and 
myself did mean the same person ; that O'Hara differed from 
us in politics ; that I never heard him noisy except when 
ringing his bell, which was often the case, as he was crier to 
the constable's vendue ; or at the time of an election, when 
he made a good deal of noise by huzzaing for Jefferson, or 
Madison, or Snyder, or some of the i:)arty. When he saw me 
he would change his note, and huzza for General Washing- 
ton ; but at all other times he was a quiet, orderly man. Mr. 
Barclay saying he seldom saw him but at the time of elec- 
tions, and that he could not doubt anything I said about 
him, the bill passed immediately. 

At the end of the session I returned with much pleasure to 
the city, being determined never to suffer my name to be put 
up as a candidate for any office that could occasion my going 
to Harrisburg ; not that I had any complaint to make of the 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 347 

place, for it is a handsome village, and will, I have no doubt, 
in time be an important place. But it was very disagreeable 
for me to leave my family for so long a time as it was neces- 
sary for me to be from home. During the four years I served 
in the Senate in Lancaster and Ilarrisburg, I never was absent 
at any meeting of the Senate Avhen I was at the seat of gov- 
ernment, which was nearly all the time the House sat. If 
they met two or three times in the twenty-four hours, I 
always attended, which I do not believe any other but my- 
self did. 

It was about the last of March when I returned home. 
My son Thomas was then about marching for Canada with a 
very fine company, and John was soon afterwards ordered to 
join his regiment on Long Island. 

The latter end of June Mrs. Biddle, our tAvo daughters, 
and m^^self set oif for I^ew London. We lodged the first 
night at Bristol, the second at Brunswick, and arrived the 
next day by twelve o'clock at New York. I had heard much 
said in favor of the steamboat plying between N^ew York 
and Paulus Hook, but I did not expect to find it such an 
excellent mode of conveyance across the river as we found it 
to be. Having several times crossed in the ferry-boats I was 
sensible of the great advantage of the steamboat. It is much 
better than a bridge, for you are as safe, and you enjoy a fine 
prospect while Crossing. 

During our stay we lodged in Broad Street at the house 
of Mrs. Wilkinson, an amiable lady, whose situation in the 
early part of her life had given her reason to believe she 
should never be under the necessity of keeping a boarding- 
house. 

I was acquainted with some of the most respectable people 
in New York, and had letters of introduction to Governor 
Tompkins, Mr. Clinton, the jViayor, and many others ; but 
the first person I inquired for, and went to see, was my unfor- 
tunate friend. Colonel Burr. He lived in a small house in 
Wall Street. He was much aftected at seeing me, and I was 
not a little so at seeing him. How different was his situation 
when I was at New York in 1800 ! He was then surrounded 



348 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

by a number of persons who called themselves his friends, 
and who were with him to concert measures for procuring 
his election as Vice-President, and was on good terms with 
General Hamilton and most of the leading Federalists. I 
know no man whose prospects at that time were more flat- 
tering than those of Colonel Burr. I had been informed 
that he was very much altered, that he appeared much older 
than he was, and his spirits broken by his misfortunes. The 
scenes he had gone through were enough to break down any 
man. He, however, did not appear to me or my family much 
altered. He called several times at my lodgings to see me, 
and was at times as cheerful as usual, but the loss of his 
amiable daughter, Mrs. Alston, and his grandson had weaned 
him from the world, and it was a matter of perfect indiffer- 
ence to him when he left it. I was sorry to find that some 
of his old friends did not visit him. Men that are unfortu- 
nate are often neglected. 

We left New "York on Saturday, the 2d of July. We 
were informed that if we attempted to travel the next day 
Ave should be fined and stopped at the first town we came to. 
Being determined to travel we rode on to Fairfield, break- 
fasted, and proceeded. When M'ithin four miles of ]S"ew 
Haven a man on horseback rode up to the carriage, and, in a 
loud voice, demanded the occasion of our travelling on that 
day. Mrs. Biddle being unwell, and having her great coat 
on, I told him we had a sick lady in the carriage. He bowed, 
said travelling on that day was contrary to law, and rode ofi:* 
without saying anything more. We proceeded to New 
Haven without any further interruption, and stopped at 
Ogden's, one of the best houses of entertainment on the con- 
tinent. The next day being the 4th of July we were awak- 
ened by the firing of cannon. Our landlord, who was much 
opposed to the war, did not like this rejoicing. After break- 
fast we proceeded on our journey ; we stopped at Gruilford, 
and intended to dine there, but we found the tavern full of 
people, and nothing to be had without waiting a considerable 
time. An oration was to be delivered by a Mr. Tod at twelve 
o'clock, which we had some thoughts of staying to hear, but 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 349 

were apprehensive of being detained too long. The militia 
made a handsome appearance, but their music was more 
adapted to a country tavern than to a company of soldiers. 
It consisted of fiddles and some wind instruments. The tune 
they marched to must have been excellent, for it set us all a 
laughing. The citizens, who marched in the rear of the 
militia, were well clothed and very orderly. We proceeded 
that evening to Pratt's at Saybury. This is a good house, 
but not equal to Ogden's. 

In the morning we crossed the ferry, which was such a one 
as I had never seen before. The flat our carriage was put in 
was towed across the river by a sail-boat lashed alongside of 
her. We had a fair wind, and, as it blew fresh, we soon 
crossed. In a calm or head wind it must be a very tedious 
matter. Three miles from Isew London we met James and 
his purser in a gig.* James got into the carriage, and Mr. 
Zantzinger and myself drove ofi' in the gig to bespeak dinner. 
After having dined we went in the Hornet's gig up the river. 
Being late we passed the U. S. Ships Macedonian and Hornet 
without going on board, and landed about half amile from Nor- 
wich, at a most delightful place that James had taken for us. 
After remaining a week at this place, during which time we 
frequently went onboard the Hornet, which was well manned 

* The Hornet, Captain Biddle, with the Macedonian and United States, 
all under command of Commodore Decatur, were at this time blockaded 
by a large British force. The otHcers were, of course, greatly chagrined 
that they were prevented from seeking fresh laurels on the ocean, but tluit 
they managed to keep up their spirits may appear from the following inci- 
dent. Alderman Binns, of Philadelphia, was deputed to present to Captains 
Decatur and Biddle the swords which had been voted by the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania. Decatur, not being a ready writer, was quite uneasy as to 
the set reply which he ought to make, and showed to Biddle the result of his 
cogitations, asking his opinion of it. The speech was approved, perhaps 
with amendments. When the time came for the formal presentation, the 
junior otticer of the two, according to rule, was to make the first reply to 
Binns's oration. To Decatur's dismay, Biddle responded by repeating, 
word for word, the speech which had been submitted for his criticism, and 
which a quick memory had enabled him to retain. The joke gave no offence, 
and all went off in great good humor. 



350 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

and in excellent order, we proceeded by Hartford for New 
York. While at 'New York I went with General Williams* 
to visit Castle Williams and the other fortifications in the' 
harbor. In viewing the castle I unfortunately mentioned 
that in my opinion the embrasures were not of suflacient 
width. My good friend Williams took up so much time to 
convince me of my mistake that we were detained until the 
middle of an excessively hot day. 

A day or two after this I received a letter informing me of 
the death of my much lamented friend and relation, Colonel 
Clement Biddle, one of the best of men.f General Washing- 
ton, with whom he corresponded until the General died, 
always expressed the highest esteem and regard for him. 
We set off a day or two afterwards, and reached Philadel- 
phia in two days, being just three weeks on our journey. 

At this time the enemy were in the Chesapeake, robbing 
and plundering the defenceless inhabitants. In August they 
destroyed Washington. Had an able otRcer commanded there 
this would not have happened. General Winder, who com- 
manded, was much esteemed, but he had very little expe- 
rience, and had too many to advise with, and unfortunately 
an opinion prevailed that the British would never attempt 
to make an attack upon Washington. Mr. Secretary Jones 
has been much blamed for burning the vessels in the navy 
yards. He expected the British would burn them, to prevent 
which he had them burned himself; in doing this he was 
certainly wrong. He was accused of cowardice, but I have 
reason to believe him to be a brave man. It is much easier 
to find out after an affair of this kind has happened what 
should have been done than before. 

The burning of the capitol roused the people everywhere. 
In Philadelphia a meeting of the city and adjoining districts, 
agreeably to public notice, convened the 26th of August in 
the State House yard. There was a very large and respect- 
able meeting. Thomas McKean was appointed President, 
and Joseph Reed, Secretary. Messrs. J. Ingersoll, C. Biddle, 

* General Jonathan Williams. •)• Sec note H. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 351 

J. Sergeant, John Goodman, Eobt. McMullen, T. Leiper, and 
John Barker were appointed to consider what measures were 
necessary for protection and defence. They reported the 
following resolutions, which were unanimousl}^ adopted : — 

Resolved^ That Charles Biddle, Thomas Leiper, Thomas 
Cadwalader, James Steele, George Latimer, John Barker, 
Henry Hawkins, Liberty Brown, Charles Ross, Manuel Eyre, 
John Connolly, Condy Raguet, William McFaden, John 
Sergeant, John Geyer, and Joseph Reed, for the city of Phila- 
delphia ; and Jon. Williams, John Goodman, Dan. Groves, 
John Barclay, John Naglee, Thomas Snyder, I. W. ISTorris, 
Michael Leib, Jacob Huff, and James Whitehead, for the 
Northern Liberties ; and James Josiah, R. McMullen, Jos. 
Thompson, E. Ferguson, Jas. Ronaldson, P. Minken, R. Pal- 
mer, P. Peltz, for Southwark, etc., be a committee for organ- 
izing the citizens of Philadelphia and the districts for defence, 
with power to appoint committees under them; to corres- 
pond with the governments of the Union and the State; to 
receive the oiFers of service from our fellow-citizens in other 
parts of the State and Union ; to make arrangements for 
supplies of arms, ammunition, and provisions, places of ren- 
dezvous, and signal of alarm ; and to do all such matters as 
may be necessary for the purpose of defence. 

Resolved^ That the committee be authorized to make such 
applications as*they may deem necessary for the purpose of 
procuring an adequate disbursement of the funds provided 
by the Commonwealth for military purposes. 

Resolved^ That the committee be authorized to call upon 
the City Councils, and upon the corporations in the Northern 
and Southern Districts in the name of the citizens, to make 
such appropriations as may be necessary for the purposes 
aforesaid. 

Resolved^ That the committee be authorized and requested 
to make provision for the families of such of the drafted 
militia and volunteers, as during their absence in service may 
be in want of assistance. 

(Signed) Thomas McKean, 

Chairman. 

Jos. Reed, Sccfy. 



352 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

The next day twenty-seven of the committee met, and 
chose me as their chairman, and J. Goodman, secretary. 
Two of the committee, Messrs. Barclay and Norris, never 
attended, and several of them but seldom. The city and 
districts put into our hands four hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars, and many of the citizens subscribed hand- 
somely for the relief of the volunteers and militia, but many 
of our richest citizens gave nothing. We appointed different 
committees, and did everything that we possibly could to 
put the city in a state of defence. All the best young men 
in the city and districts turned out cheerfully, and were pro- 
vided in the best manner we could. Our Governor for the 
first time since his election visited the city, but his presence 
was of no service. The day of the election he was grossly 
insulted. This I was very sorry for, believing him to be an 
inoffensive man. 

The account of the death of General Ross* was received 
in the city with much satisfaction. It is to be lamented that 
such a man should have fallen in such a cause. It is said 
that two lads had straggled from the camp, and seeing some 
British officers standing under a tree, they concealed them- 
selves among some bushes, and advanced towards them. 
"When getting near, one of them observed to the other, " That 
man," pointing to General Ross, " is a general." " Why do 
you think so ?" " Because all the officers, as they come up, 
salute him ; and I will have a crack at him." lie fired and 
killed him. 

November 10, 1815. Walking with Mrs. Biddle this 
afternoon, we were stopped by a man I did not recollect to 
have ever seen before. After looking very earnestly, he very 
civilly inquired if my name was Biddle. Having answered 
him, " Captain Biddle, I presume." " Yes." " My name, 
sir, is Gilbert, I am a potter." It struck me immediately he 
was the son of the man Captain Gray don or myself had hit 
when practising with our pistols in 1776 ; or that perhaps, 
he was the person. I told him if he had anything to say to 

* In the attack on Baltimore. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 353 

me, to call at my house. He made a low bow, and said he 
would. 

The year I moved to Philadelphia from Reading, I became 
a member of a club that once a week dined, and spent the 
evening at each other's houses. The club consisted of twenty. 
The following gentlemen were natives of Ireland : Stephen, 
John, and Jasper Moylan, brothers ; John and Alexander 
ISTesbit, General Walter Stewart, Commodore John Barry, 
James Collins, George Campbell, Sharpe Dulany, Matthew 
Mease, and afterwards Michael Morgan O'Brien. They were 
all of them very respectable, and most of them rich. They 
have all of them long since retired from this (I hope) to a 
better world. The rest of the club were Americans, three 
of whom with myself are still here, July, 1816. Our Irish 
members generally remained longer at the table and drank 
more than the others, except one American ; this was Major 
Moore, who was in the service all the war, and was an excel- 
lent ofhcer. He would drink and eat, I believe, more than 
any two of the club; and this, it is probable, was the occasion 
of his soon following our Irish friends. The Irish are gene- 
rally generous and brave. You will seldom find among them 
a miser or a coward ; but they are thoughtless and extrava- 
gant. Most of the friendly, good fellows I have mentioned 
left their families in distressed circumstances. 

The 8th of August I set olF with Mrs. Biddle and my 
daughters for Schooley's JMountain. When we reached 
Mitchell's Bridge, which is thirty-five miles from the city, 
three laborers he had employed building a house broke ofl:* 
from work and set ofi:' on foot for Philadelphia to see the un- 
fortunate R. Smith, condemned for the murder of Captain 
Carson, executed. After being a few days at Schooley's 
Mountain we went to Sussex Court House, and from thence 
to Easton. We intended to have gone from Easton to see 
my friend General Craig, but upon inquiry, I found he was 
in Easton. I requested a gentleman who was going there, 
to look for him, and to tell him a person at the tavern wanted 
to see him, and told him not to mention my name. The 
General was very much surprised at seeing me. He held me 
23 



354 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF * 

in his arms for some minutes, and it was some time after 
before he could speak. He was so much agitated that I was 
sorry I had surprised him. He reminded me that it was 
just seventeen years since he left my house in the city, from 
which time we had not seen each other. This brave and 
generous man, who never could be provoked to strike a man 
he had a regard for, could not now, although seventy-four 
years of age, keep his hands off a fellow who he thought be- 
haved like a rascal, and he was then attending the court for 
committing an assault upon a fellow who lived in his neigh- 
borhood.* There are few men at this time he could not 
beat, there are none from whom he would suffer an insult. 
Generals Craig and Wilkinson I was intimate with before 
the Revolution, as also Captain A. G raj- don, who was a cap- 
tain in the service when Fort Washington was taken, with 
Commodore Truxtun and Colonel Burr during the Revolu- 
tion. All these are at this time, September, 1816, hale, 
hearty men ; they have all been unfortunate. The sufferings 
of General Wilkinson and Colonel Burr are well known. 

A few weeks before the general election this year I thought 
it would be of great service to my friend Truxtun, if he 
could do so, to reside upon his farm in Jersey in the summer, 
and in the winter in the city, and to be Deputy Sheriff. 
Having very little to do, and his estate not being productive, 
I thought he wanted some employment, and this office would 
employ him, and he could make more by it than would main- 
tain his family. At this time the Deputy Sheriff, Elliot, 
who was a very good officer, had been agreed upon by the 
Federal conferees to be run as Sheriffi When I mentioned 
Truxtun they all agreed he deserved the office, but that he 
was a Jerseyman, and could not be commissioned if he had 

* General Thomas Craig, a Revolutionary officer of great merit, entered 
the service as captain in 1776, and was in the Canada campaign. He was 
afterwards colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment, and was present at 
the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and at Valley 
Forge. After the war, in 1783, he was lieutenant of Northampton County. 
In the next year he was Associate Judge in Montgomery County, but 
shortly returned to Northampton and died in 1832, aged 92 years. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 355 

a majority of votes, that it was too late to think of him, 
and that by running him we should get in a Democrat for 
a Sheriff. My opinion being otherwise I went with him all 
over the county, and, some other of his friends and myself 
using our exertions, we got him elected by a very large 
majority. Owing to the sureties being obliged to give a 
judgment bond we had much difficulty in procuring persons 
who would join in his bond. I offered Mr. Conrad Wile five 
hundred dollars to sign it, but although he wished to serve 
me he was afraid it would injure him in his business. We, 
however, afterwards obtained sureties without paying any- 
thing, twelve men of large property engaging the sureties 
should suffer no loss. Thinking Truxtun would have some 
difficulty at Harrisburg, I went there with him. Our ride 
to Harrisburg was a very disagreeable one ; we left the city 
in the rain about 8 o'clock in the morning, and at seven the 
next morning were at Harrisburg, having stopped only about 
two hours in the night at Elizabethtown. At Middletown 
the landlord told us we would probably be overset, but that 
it would only be in the mud. When we arrived at Harris- 
burg we found there was a memorial against the election. 
In it they said they could prove Truxtun Avas a citizen of 
Jersey, etc. We, however, procured the commission. If 
Truxtun had not been run we should have had a Democrat 
for our Sheriff. 

In October, 1817, 1 was foreman of the grand jury for the 
District Court of the United States. Among other present- 
ments there was one against Jacques Tardy for murder. It 
appeared that this man, who was called Dr. Tardy, took 
passage in a schooner at Boston bound to Philadelphia, com- 
manded by Captain Norton, who related that Tardy was on 
the wharf every day while the schooner was loading. He 
had with him a servant man, and requested a passage for a 
poor fellow, who he said, had been shipwrecked, and wanted 
to get to his friends in Philadelphia. The morning after 
they sailed Captain Norton observed something white on the 
sugar. Upon inquiring of the steward what it could be, he 
said he did not know what it was, but believed it was flour. 



366 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

iN'orton, although he had no suspicion of its being poison, 
threw it overboard. The next morning after breakfast the 
crew and a German passenger were taken witii a violent vom- 
iting. ISTorton inquired of the doctor what could be the mat- 
ter with them. He told him they were poisoned, but he 
would soon cure them. He gave to each a teaspoonful of 
sweet oil. Norton not finding himself relieved, spoke to the 
doctor who told him he must take some laudanum. Norton 
told him laudanum had always a bad effect upon him, and 
he and the crew refused to take any. The German had taken 
some before Norton refused to take it. About twelve o'clock 
Tardy came to Norton and told him the German was dead 
and he should be buried immediately. Norton told him they 
must keep him until the next morning. The doctor said if 
his body was kept it would infect all the crew. He then 
with his servant and the sailor passenger hove the remains 
of the poor German overboard. The captain and crew re- 
mained sick for some days, but they recovered and arrived 
safe. The doctor told Norton that the German, just before 
he died, told him that for his care and attention he should 
have everything he had on board. Upon this Norton let him 
take everything he had out of the vessel, A few days after 
this the doctor met a young man named Jones, whom he had 
formerly known in South Carolina. Upon inquiring of Jones 
what he was doing, he told him he had a wife and two chil- 
dren, was out of employment, and did not know what to do. 
Tardy told him he would do something for him, and desired 
him to call upon him the next day. When he called the doc- 
tor took him into a private room, and after telling him he 
must be secret as to what he was going to communicate, he 
told him he had taken his passage with Captain Harrison for 
Charleston, tliat when they should be at sea he intended to 
poison the captain and crew and take the vessel to some of 
the West India islands, sell the cargo and divide the proceeds ; 
that he understood navigation well, and could take the ves- 
sel into any port. He said he had been used ill by the Amer- 
icans, and would be revenged. Jones was shocked at what 
this man proposed. He agreed to go to Captain Harrison 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 357 

and engage his passage. He went to Captain Harrison and 
inquired if a Dr. Tardy had engaged a passage for himself 
and servant. Harrison replied that he had, and also wanted 
a passage for another person. Jones then related what had 
passed between the doctor and himself. They then w^ent be- 
fore the Mayor, and made oath to what they knew respecting 
the doctor ; upon which a bill was found against him for the 
murder of the German. Before this he was tried for a mis- 
demeanor in attempting to poison Captain N"orton and his 
crew, and sentenced to hard labor for seven years. There 
was not a man upon the grand or traverse jury, but what be- 
lieved Tardy murdered the German. The charge of Judge 
Washington saved him. The grand jurj^ among others, put 
the following questions : Did Tardy understand navigation ? 
He answered that he did, he had been an old privateersman. 
Did he know you had a valuable cargo on board ? He did, 
for he was on the wharf every day while the vessel was load- 
ing. I^othing of this was mentioned before the traverse j ury. 
Judge Washington in his charge said, " What object could 
this man have in destroying the crew ? He knew nothing 
of navigation ; nor does it appear that he knew of her having 
a valuable cargo on board." What the Judge said about his 
not understanding navigation saved this wretch from the 
gallows. 

January 1st, 1818. I feel perfectly well, but my sight is 
not as good as if has been. I can, however, write as well as 
ever. I never have used spectacles. 

May the 12th. I went to the Court of Oyer and Terminer 
to get an old friend from serving on the grand jury. Upon 
my representation the Court excused hira. I remained in 
court until the grand jury was called, when finding me Judge 
Rush called upon me and requested I would serve. Having 
no excuse, I"served, and was appointed foreman. 

June 1st. I feel perfectly well, but I know this is frequently 
the case with men at my time of life, just before leaving the 
world ; and this is infinitely better than a lingering illness. 

I was elected to the Cincinnati in 1789. In 1785, when 



358 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 

Dr. Franklin was elected President of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, and I was elected Vice-President, we had a procession 
of all the members of the Legislature, public officers, etc., 
that went from the State House in Chestnut Street to the 
Market House in Second Street, Avhere the Doctor was pro- 
claimed President, and myself Vice-President. There was 
assembled an immense concourse of people in order to see the 
Doctor, and among others who were in the street was Baron 
Steuben. The Baron was to us a very valuable officer in dis- 
ciplining our army. He was about fifty-five years of age, five 
feet five inches high, and stout made. He was in the crowd 
to see the procession, and pulled ofi" his hat to the Doctor as 
he passed. Dr. Franklin hurt himself in taking oft' his hat, 
and remarked to me that it was very wrong to pull oS your 
hat to any gentleman in a procession. Mr. Wolf, who was in 
the family of Steuben, speaks very highly of him as an officer, 
but thought him an unprincipled man. The Doctor was very 
glad when the procession was over, but made no complaints 
at the march we had. 

In walking to the bank two or three months since with 
my friend Mr. Haga,* he observed to me, " You have such an 
iron constitution that no weather whatever seems to affect 
you." I believe few men ever regarded the weather less than 
I did, and unless it rained or snowed, however cold, I never 
wore a great coat, and would not then had I not thought it 
improper in a j)erson of my age to be seen without one. Mr. 
Haga and myself were elected directors of thfe Bank of Penn- 
sylvania in the year 1793. He was frequently confined with 
the gout. 

May 10, 1819. I have now no complaint whatever, except 
a weakness in one of my eyes. I, however, can write now 
without spectacles. 

I spent five weeks this summer at Schooley'-s Mountain. 
This I believe to be a very healthy spot, and if there was a good 

* Mr. Godfrey Haga, who resided in the house known as the "Gothic 
Mansion," Chestnut Street above Twelfth. 



CHARLES BIDDLE. 359 

house, or houses, it would be a pleasant place. Mr. Heath, 
the proprietor, is a worthy man, but he has not capital enough 
to put it in good order. 

On Monday the 26th of October this year, I went to Bor- 
dentown to see the improvements made by Joseph Bonaparte, 
the late King of Spain. The place he resides at I frequently 
visited in the year 1777. Mr. J. Douglass, a friend of 
mine, then lived there. The place was much improved, 
but in my opinion it could have been made much better for 
less than one-half the $150,000, which Mr. Hopkinson in- 
formed me it cost the Count Survilliers, the title he has now 
taken. The Count is a very affable, unassuming man. I 
understand he does not expect any particular attention paid 
to him, but he is pleased when it is tendered. 



Charles Biddle died April 4, 1821, at his residence No. 310 Chest- 
nut Street (now 1108), to which lie had removed in the year 1818. 
He was buried in Christ .Church burying ground, Fifth and Arch 
streets, in his own family vault. His three sons, William Shepard, 
James, and Charles, and his daughter, Mrs. Ann Hopkinson, are 
also buried there. His son Nicholas lies with his wife's family in St. 
Peter's Churchyard. Edward was buried at sea, John at Detroit, 
Major Thomas Bijdle at St. Louis, and Richard at Pittsburgh. His 
daughter, Mrs. Mary Biddle, was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. 



NOTES. 



NOTE A. (Page 1.) 

William Biddle, one of the early Proprietors of West Jersey, having 
served, it is believed, as an officer in the Parliamentary Army during the 
civil war, whilst still a young man had joined the Society of Friends. 
Shortly after the Restoration in 1G60, the Quakers were subjected to violent 
persecution under pretence that they were aiding and abetting the schemes 
of the "Fifth Monarchy" men. In the " Abstract of Sufferings of Quakers; 
London, 1738," vol. iii. p. 269, is a " Ijist of Persons Imprisoned by Mayor 
Brown," 337 in number. William Biddle is upon this list, which was of 
date 1660-61. 

In Best's Sufferings of Quakers, vol. i. p. 366, under the year 1650, we 
find ' ' In the months called December, January, and February he sentTRither 
[to Newgate] Two Hundred and Eighty persons whose names are distin- 
guished in the Index hereto annexed." Amongst those so "distinguished" 
are William Biddle, Thomas Biddle, and Esther Biddle.* 

It seems probable, therefore, that he was born about A. D. 1630, or a few 
years prior thereto. From the minutes of Friends' meeting in Bishopsgate 
Street, London, it appears that he married Sarah Kemp, 12th month, 1665 
(February, 1666), and that the names and dates of births of their children 
were as follows : — * 

Elizabeth, born 4th mo. 25, 1668, died in childhood. 

William, born 10th mo. 4, 1669. 

John, born 10th mo. 27, 1670, died in childhood. 

Joseph, born I'ith mo. 6, 1672, died In childhood. 

Sarah, born 10th mo. 2, 16 78. 

At page 24 of a very rare pamphl(^t,f a copy of which is in the Library of 



* Esther or Hester Biddle was one of the most zealous of the early Friends, 
both as writer and preacher. Quite a number of her Tracts are to be found iu 
the Bodleian Library — "Something in Short unto the Sons and Daughters of 
Men as I was Moved by the Lord;" ",Wo to the Town of Cambridge;" "The 
Trumpet of the Lord Sounded forthe unto these Three Nations, etc." Dixon, in 
his "Life of Penn," says : "Hester Biddle forced her way into the presence of 
the grand monarch of Versailles, and commanded him in the name of God to 
sheathe his destroying Sword." His reference is, " Gerard Croese, 468." 

t "An Abstract or Abbreviation of Some Few of the Many (Later and Former) 
Testimonys from the Inhabitants of New Jersey and other Eminent Persons who 



362 NOTES. 

Mrs. Brown Carter, Providence, Rhode Island, is given "An Abstract of a 
lietterfrom Daniel Wills to William Biddle (then living in Bishopsgate St., 
London) who, with his wife and family, is this present 5th month, 1681, 
with several servants, gone for New Jersey." This letter, dated 6th of 11th 
month, 1679-80 (February 6, 1680), somewhat abbreviated, and with some 
changes in phraseology, is copied into Smith's History of New Jersey, p. 
115, with a note appended, giving the time of removal as "the summer of 
1681." 

In the "Records of Friends' Meeting at Burlington," begun in 1678, the 
name of William Biddle appears as a witness of the marriage of Thomas 
Barton and Ann Bourton, "the 8th day of the 4th month, 1681" (June 8, 
1681). 

This would indicate a removal at an earlier date than that given above. 

In Hotten's List of Emigrants to America, p. 446, is found : " Barbados, 
Anno, 1680," "List of inhabitants in and about the Town of St. Michael's, 
Barbadoes," in which is the entry of " Wm. Biddle and AVife, Two Chil- 
dren, 1 Hired servant, 3 Slaves." 

It is possible, but not probable, that this is the same person who came in 
the next year to New Jersey, since many of the early settlers of the Middle 
Colonies came hither, as we know, after a brief sojourn at some of the West 
India Islands.* In Philadelphia there was a Barbadoes Company before 
1700, and the Barbadoes House stood at the N. AV. corner of Second and 
Chestnut streets. 

In a tract, printed at Philadelphia in 1699, by the pugnacious Governor 
Jennings,f "Truth Rescued, etc.," he says in reference to Billing, with 
whom he was now at daggers drawn (if we may so speak of quarrelsome 
Friends) : — 

"It was his intent suddainly to come and settle the affair to thtet hearts 
content of all concerned ; and to back all this, a Ship was then newly 
arrived in which were Passengers, William Biddle^ Elias Farr, and Ben- 
jamin Scott, witli divers others, but these I mention as of most note, and 
intimate with Billing, who declared," etc. 

The context, however, does not fix the exact date, nor has it been found 
possible to ascertain it with greater precision. Smith, in his History of New 
Jersey (p. 109) includes William Biddle in a list of persons "who arrived 
at Burlington about this time [1678], and a few years afterwards." 



have wrote particularly concerning That Place." London, Printed by Thomas 
Milborn in the year 1681. 

* In 1(J81, "Many families [in Barbadoes] unable to endure the rigor of his 
[Governor Dutlin's] administration abandoned the country and sought elsewhere 
an asylum from the persecution which they suffered at home." — Poyer's History, 
p. 116. 

t Reprinted in fac-siniile in 1881 by Mr. Brinton Coxe, himself a descendant 
of Dr. Daniel Coxe, of London, Governor of West New Jersey in 1687, and at 
that time the largest proprietor. 



NOTES. 363 

It has been mentioned above, that William Biddle, before coming to 
America, was residing in London. The family, however, which is identical 
with that of Biddulph, was originally seated in Staffordshire, whence different 
branches spread into Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. From the latter 
county came the famous Socinian divine, John Biddle, usually called "the 
father of English Unitarianism." 

Recent researches of Mr. John Biddle-Cope, now resident in England, 
lead to the belief that William Biddle was himself born in Staffordshire, 
and removed to London, at the same time with several others of the Bid- 
dulph family, to engage in trade. Some authorities as to the name of Biddle 
will be found at the end of this note. 

He was accompanied to America by his two surviving children, William 
and Sarah, eleven and two years of age respectively. More than five years 
prior to his embarkation William Biddle had, undoubtedly, along with many 
other Friends, seriously considered this important step, and in contemplation 
of it had made three purchases of proprietary interests in the province of 
West Jersey. His total purchases of those interests were as follows: — 

1. January 23, 167G. From William Penn, Gawen Lawrie, Nicholas 
Lucas, and Edward Byllinge — one-half share. 

2. April 1, 167 7. From Thomas Hutchinson and Joseph Helmsley — 
one- fourth share. 

3. October 29, 16 78. From Nicholas Bill — one-sixth share. 

4. August 8, 1684. From Joseph Helmsley — one-fourth share. 

5. August 21, 1684. From Samuel Clay — one-sixth share. 

6. May 20, 1686. From Thomas Hutchinson — one-fourth share. 

7. November 10, 1G91. From executors of Anna Salters, widow, de- 
ceased, less first dividend — one-sixth share. 

By these purchases William Biddle became entitled to 42,916| acres of 
the province. The* deeds for the above purchases, and a transcript of his 
land account, are in the possession of his descendants. 

As one of the proprietors his name is affixed to "The Concessions and 
Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders, and Inhabitants," etc. (See 
Appendix, "Smith's History, N. J.," page 521 and 539 ) 

Shortly after his arrival in West Jersey he selected a spot for his residence 
on the bank of the Delaware, at what is now known as Kinkora, about 
midway between Burlington and Bordentown, where he took up 500 acres 
on the mainland, and 278 acres, the area of an adjacent island, which still 
bears the name of Biddle' s Island. To this homestead, or as he styled it 
"Plantation," he gave the name of " Mount Hope." It may not be amiss 
to state that his much esteemed friend William Penn, under erroneous im- 
pressions as to riparian rights, laid claim to a part of this island. He writes 
to Logan : "Tho' the channel goes between that [the island] and Penns- 
bury, yet it always belonged to the Indians of our tribe that lived at Scpassin, 
now Pennsbury. Move in it as most prudent or advisable." — Penn and 
Logan Correspondence, vi. p. 294. 



364 NOTES. 

Their respective claims were submitted to the adjudication of a committee, 
duly appointed according to the "discipline" or rules for the government of 
the Society of Friends, and by that committee the title of the island was 
declared to be vested in Biddle. 

That he was esteemed by his fellow citizens a man of honorable principles 
and sound judgment may be inferred from his repeated appointment to public 
offices requiring such qualifications. He became a member of the Governor's 
Council, of the General Assembly of the Province, of the Board of Com- 
missioners for Laying out Land, and of the Council of the Proprietors of 
West Jersey. These appointments were as follows: — 

The Assembly of West Jersey, In the year 1G8'2, elected him one of the 
ten members of the Council, one of the Justices of the Peace for Burlington 
County, and one of the ten Commissioners for Laying out Land (Smith's 
History, New Jersey, p. 152). Again, on the 15th day of the 3d mo., 
IGS'i, the Assembly re-elected him one of the Council, and one of the Com- 
missioners for Laying out Lands. The duties of the members of Council 
are stated as follows : — 

" The engagement and promise of the Council elected by the Assembly. 
We, underwritten, being elected and chosen by the general free assembly 
members of council, to advise and assist the governor in managing the affairs 
of the government, do solemnly promise, every one for himself, that we will 
give our diligent attendance from time to time, and him advise and assist to 
the best of our skill and knowledge, according to the laws, commissions, and 
constitution of this province ; and do further promise not to reveal or dis- 
close any secret of Council, or any business therein transacted, to the pre- 
judice of the public" (Smith's History, New Jersey, pp. 1G4-165). 

At a meeting of the proprietors of West Jersey, held the 14th day 12th 
mo., called February, 1G87, it was decided to appoint eleven of their number 
"Commissioners and Trustees" to conduct the business of said proprietors. 
At tliis meeting he was appointed one of the Board, called the council of the 
proprietors wlio were to hold office until "the tenth day of the second month, 
A. D. 1G88" (Smith's History, New Jersey, pp. 199-201). He was re- 
elected a member of this body for the ensuing year (Smith's History, pp. 
203-204), and probably for many years thereafter, as in the years 170G and 
1707, he was president thereof (Smith's History, pp. 285-288). And, to 
end the list, we find that when the proprietors of East and West Jersey 
surrendered to Queen Anne their riglits of governing these provinces, and 
]jord Cornbury, having been appointed Governor of New Jersey, convened 
the General Assembly at Perth Amboy, on the 10th of November, 1703, 
William Biddle was elected one of the ten representatives of the western 
division in this Assembly (Smith's History, New Jersey, p. 27G). 

That he was equally respected as a member of the religious society of 
Friends would appear from the fact that for "a considerable time" one of 
their meetings for worship, on the first day of the week (Sunday), was held 
at his residence, where also "Burlington Quarterly Meeting was held from 



NOTES. 365 

1682 to 1711" (Smith's Manuscript History of Pennsylvania," chapter 20, 
in Library of Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Hazard's Register, vol. 
vii. pp. 101, 102).* 

Sarah, wife of William Biddle, died on the 27th day of 2d mo., 1709, 
O. S., in the 75th year of her age, and he departed this life in the early 
part of the year 1712, N. S., at a very advanced age. 

The following facts relative to his last will, which is on file in the office of 
the Secretary of State of New Jersey, at Trenton, are interesting. It was 
executed June 23, 1711, proved at Burlington, March 3, 1712, and approved 
and sealed by his excellency. Colonel Hunter, and the probate seal, the 24th 
March, 1711, O. S. (April 5, 1712, N. S.). 

By it the following bequests were made : — 

His plantation of Mount Hope, containing 500 acres, and the island, 
known as Biddle's Island, containing 278 acres, to his son William and 
Lydia the wife of his son, during their lives, and the life of the survivor, 
and then to their son William, his heirs and assigns forever. 

To his cousin, Thomas Biddle, 500 acres of hind. 

To Thomas, Sarah, and Rachael Biddle, children of his said cousin, 
Thomas Biddle, each a small legacy in money. 

To his aforesaid grandson, William Biddle, £75. • 

To each of his four granddaughters, Elizabeth, Sarah, Penelope, and 
Lydia Biddle, £37 10s. 

To his grandson, Joseph Biddle, 500 acres of land and £37 10s. 

To his grandson, John Biddle, 500 acres of land and £37 10s. 

To each of his executors, Samuel Bunting and John Wills, £7 10s. 

To William Plumstead, son of Clement Plumstead, of Philadelpiiia [by 
his second wife], £7 10s. 

To his cousin, Dorothy Sherwin, 100 acres of land. 

To William Satterthwait, 100 acres of land. 

"And lastly, all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, 
of what kind or quality soever and wheresoever, I give, devise, and bequeath 
unto my said son, William Biddle, and to his executors and assigns forever." 

Of the five children of William and Sarah Biddle, it has been already 
stated, two only survived to accompany their parents, in the year 1681, from 
England to America, namely, William 2d, and Sarah. Of William 2d, but 
little is known by his descendants, now surviving. He married, about 1695, 
Lydia Wardell, of Shrewsbury, N. J., a member of the Society of Friends, 
a great- gi-anddaughter of Thomas Wardell, and a granddaughter of Eliakim 
A\'ardell,t French Huguenots, who settled in New England, much earlier in 



* Smith's History of New Jersey, being without an index, the following refer- 
ences are given to William Biddle and his son William : pp. 95, 109, 115, 152, 16i, 
165, 200, 203, 204, 276, 285, 286, 538, 554. 

f For an impartial account of the persecution of Eliakim Wardell and his wife 
{nSe Perkins), see page 102 of a remarkably able work, recently published, enti- 



366 NOTES. 

the 17th century. The minutes and records of Shrewsbury Monthly Meet- 
ing, for some years prior and subsequent to her marriage, were for a long 
time mislaid, and consequently the precise date thereof has not been ascer- 
tained. 

On the 2d day of November, 1703, William Biddle, Jr., John Wills, and 
John Reading were appointed by the Council of Proprietors of West Jersey, 
Commissioners to "go up to the Indians above the Falls, and particularly 
to Caponockous, in order to have the tract of land lately purchased of the 
Indians marked forth, and get them to sign a deed for the same," etc. 
(Smith's History, New Jersey, note, p. 95). 

Having, on the death of his father, in the early part of the year 1712, 
inherited an ample fortune, he continued during the remainder of his life, 
at least thirty years, to reside at Mount Hope. 

His landed property was largely increased after his father's death, his 
share of what was called the " Lotting Purchase" amounting to 12,905 acres. 
This was a large tract of land ^Jurchased from the Indians above the Falls 
of the Delaware, and allotted among such of the West Jersey proprietors 
as had contributed money to make the purchase. 

Sarah, daughter of William and Sarah Biddle, was, on the 21st of October, 
1695, O. S., married at the residence of her father, to William llighton, of 
Philadelphia, and as he was not a Friend the marriage ceremony was per- 
formed in the presence of three justices of the peace. Out of regard, pro- 
bably to the feelings of her parents, the Friends did not "disown" her. 
Her husband having died very soon after their marriage, she returned from 
Philadelphia to Mount Hope, and resided with her parents, having no issue. 

On 1st mo. (March) 14, 1703-4, O. S., she was again married, by Friends' 
ceremony, at the residence of her father, to Clement Plumstead, of Phila- 
delphia, who, subsequently, in the years 1723, 173G, and 1741, held the 
office of Mayor of the city. The guests at the wedding were the first families 
in Philadelphia and New Jersey : Governors Samuel Jennings and William 
Penn, Jr., Robert Monposson, Francis Davenport, Joseph Kirkbride, James 
Sansom, John Wills, and Samuel Carpenter and William Hall, of Salem 
County. The only issue of this marriage was a son named William, who 
died when a few months old. On the 17th of the 6th mo., 1705, Sarah 
Plumstead died leaving no issue, and consequently all the descendants of 
William Biddle, first, and Sarah his wife, now surviving, are descendants 
of tlieir son, William 2d. 

William 2d, leaving no will, it is presumed that his estate was divided 
amongst his children under the intestate laws of the Province. He probably 
died about the year 1743, aged 73. He had by his wife Lydia seven 



tied " The Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts," by Richard P. Hallowell, Boston, 
1883. 

"The first child born at this place [Shewsbury] was Elizabeth, daughter of 
Eliakim Wardell, afterwards wife of John Wills, in 1667."— Smith's M3. Hist, 
of Penna., chapter xx. 



NOTES. 367 

children, namely, William, Elizabeth, Sarah, Penelope (m. Whitehead), 
Joseph, and John; the last named being born in 1707. 

Joseph Biddle, second son of William (2d) and Lydia, his wife, married 
(1st) Lydia Howard, and was the only one of the three bi-others who 
remained in New Jersey. His children were Mary (m. Shinn), Arney, 
Joseph. By a second marriage, he left issue, William (died young) and 
Sarah (m. 1st Monroe, and 2d Joseph Harker). 

It is believed that no descendants of Joseph bearing the name of Biddle 
now remain in New Jersey, but that there are a number who are descended 
from Thomas Biddle, cousin of William (1st), and mentioned by the latter 
in his will. 

From Arney Biddle, son of Joseph, there are many descendants of the 
name in Ohio and other northwestern States, and one, the Rev. Arney 
Biddle (Presbyterian), now resides at Cabin Hill, Delaware County, in the 
State of New York. 

William Biddle, the eldest son, and John Biddle, the youngest son of 
William Biddle (2d) and his wife Lydia Wardell, both removed to Phila- 
delphia between 1720 and 1730, and were the progenitors of the great 
number of the name in that city.* 

William Biddle (3d) married Mary Scull, April 3, 1730, d. 175e, and 
had issue : — 

James, b. Feb. 18, 1731. , 

Nicholas, b. 1733, died in infancy. 

Lydia, b. 1734. 

John, b. 1736. 

Edward, b. 1738. 

Charles, b. 1745. 

Abigail, b. 1747, died young. 

Mary b. 1749, dk;d unmarried. 

Nicholas, b. 1 750. 

Thomas, b. 1752. 

I. James, eldest son of William Biddle (3d) and Mary Scull, his wife 
(see page 236), born 1731, m., June 30, 1753, Frances Marks, and had issue: 
Thirteen children, of whom eight died under ten years of age ; the others 
were — 



* It is believed that still another Biddle came early to Philadelphia, whose 
descendants cannot now be traced. Some of the same name were in New England 
as early as 1(539; " the name being sometimes spelled Biddell or Beadle." — See 
Savage's Dictionary. 

At a much later period, about 1760, there came to Delaware three brothers, 
Mark, Luke, and John Biddle, whose elder brother Matthew remained iu England. 
These were of the Gloucestershire branch of the family, still living near Wottou- 
under-Edge. 



368 NOTES. 

(!) Joseph, lost at sea, page 139. 
("2) William, lost at sea, page 141. 

(3) Marks John, b. 1765, d. 1849. 

(4) Lydia, m. James Collins. 

(5) Elizabeth, m. George Eckert. 

Marks John Biddle commenced the practice of law in Berks County about 
1788, and at once entered upon a large business which he retained until 
advanced in years. In 1817 he was in the State Senate, and was appointed 
by Governor Heister Prothonotary of Berks County. His life was marked 
by a lofty sense of professional and private honor, and he was up to its close 
in the enjoyment of the highest respect and affection of the people of Read- 
ing. He m. Jane Dundas (niece of Sir Ralph Dundas, JMajor-General in 
the British Army, and a cousin of Sir Ralph Abercrombie) in 1793, and had 
issue: — 

1. James Dundas m. Frances Wood (1815), and d. 1822. Issue: Marks 
John and James Dundas. Marks John Biddle m. Isabella Hamilton, and 
theii' son, John C. Mercer Biddle, b. 1856, is, by right of descent, the legal 
representative of the William Biddle who first came to New Jersey. 

2. Hannah D. m. Jonathan D. Good, and 2d Abraham Addams, and 
died 1859. Had issue by 1st marriage — John, Thomas. 

3. Frances Dundas m. Joseph R. Priestley [grandson of the famous Dr. 
Priestley], and d. 1878. Had Issue: Joseph (m. Hannah Taggart), Eliza 
(m. Thos. Lyons), Marks J. B. (m. Mary Taggart), Fanny (m. Henry 
Toulman), Jane (m. Conyers Button). 

4. Lydia m. David F. Gordon, of Reading [Judge of Common Pleas, 
Berks County], and d. 1848. Had issue: James B., d. s. p., Elizabeth F., 
Jane Dundas (m. J. Brinton White), Clara. 

5. Elizabeth Eckert m. Edward Anderson, and d. 1876. Issue: Alex- 
ander (m. Anise Hull), J. Lesley' (m. Hester Agnes Carroll), JNIarks Biddle. 

6. Jane, d. unm. 1849. 

7. Ann, d. unm. 1882. 

Lydia, daughter of James Biddle and Frances Marks, m. James Collins. 
Issue: Frances m. Saml. Wood. Issue: Marks John, d. young, and Lydia 
M. (m. 1st Pawling, 2d Osborne, and left issue), Jane B. m. Robt. Frazer 
(issue, Robert and Fanny B., m. Herbert Welsh). 

Elizabeth, daughter of James Biddle and Frances Marks, m. Geo. Eckert. 
No issue. 

II. Lydia, daughter of William Biddle (3d), m., December 3, 1752, 
Captain William McFunn, who had been an officer of the British Navy, and 
held high office in Antigua. He d. in 1767 or 1768. Issue: — 

(1) William Biddle McFunn, who changed his name to AVm. McFunn 
Biddle, m. (1797) Lydia Spencer, dau. of the Rev. Ellhu Spencer. He d. 
in 1809. INIrs. Biddle removed to Carlisle in 1827, and d. in 1858, aged 92 
years. Her children were : — 



NOTES. 369 

1. Lydia Spencer m. Samuel Baird, and had issue: William M., Samuel, 
Spencer F. [now at the head of the Smithsonian Institution], Rebecca P., 
Lj'dia Spencer, Mary D. [married Major Henry J. Biddle, who died July, 
1862, of wounds received in the seven days' battle before Richmond], 
Thomas. 

2. Valeria, dan. of Wm. M. Biddle, m. Charles B. Penrose [a descendant 
of John Biddle and jSIary Owen], and had issue : William McFunn, Richard 
Alexander Fullerton [Professor in the Medical Department of the University 
of Pennsylvania], Sarah C. [married William S. Blight], Clement Biddle 
[Judge of Orphans' Court, Philadelphia], Lydia, Charles B. 

3. William M., son of Wm. M. Biddle, ra. Julia Montgomery, and had 
issue : Lydia Spencer, Thomas M., Edward M., Mary M., William McFunn, 
Julia M. 

4. Mary E. D., dau. of Wm. M. Biddle and his wife Lydia Spencer, m. 
Major Bluney, U. S. Army, and had issue : Valeria Biddle, Catharine M., 
William Biddle, Lydia Spencer. 

5. Edward Biddle, son of Wm. M. Biddle, m. Julia A. Watts, and had 
issue: David W., Lydia Spencer, Charles Penrose, Frederick W., Edward 
W., Wm. McFunn. 

(2) Mary Biddle,* dau. of Captain Wm. McFunn and his wife Lydia 
Biddle, m. (1773) Colllnson Read, and had issue: — 

1. James, Major U. S. Army, d. s. p. 

2. Tiiomas, unm. 

3. Edward, unm. 

4. Charles, purser, U. S. N., killed in mutiny, d. unm. 

5. George, unm. 

6. Susan, m. Thos. Collins, of Pittsburgh, 4 children. 

7. Safah, m. General William Gates, U. S. Army (d. 1865), 6 children. 

8. William M., t^. S. Army, 4 children. 

9. Lydia, d. unm. 

10. Maria, m. John Dennis, of New Brunswick, N. J., 5 children. 

III. John, second son (omitting from the enumeration an infant, dec'd) 
of William Biddle (3d), m. Mrs. Sophia Boone. He was Deputy Quarter 
Master In the Pi-ovincial Army in General Forbes's Campaign against Fort 
Du Quesne. At the time of the Revolution he held office as Collector of 
Excise of Berks County, and, though opposed to the measures of the govern- 
ment, was, like many prominent Whigs of the day, not in favor of separation 
from the mother country. In 1778 his property was confiscated, and he was 
banished to New York, whence he proceeded to Nova Scotia, where he 
remained until the time of his death. His family, after the war, returned 



* For this information we are indebted to the " Provincial Councillors of Penn- 
sylvania," recently published by Mr. Charles P. Keith, a work of immense 
research and remarkable accuracy. 
24 



370 NOTES. 

to Pennsylvania, and resided at Reading and Greensburg. His children 



"were:- 



(1) Edward, ni. at Mackinac, Mich. Issue : Sophia, John m. Ashman, 
Sarah m. Durfee. 

(2) James, resided in Pittsburgh, m. McNichol. Issue: two children. 

(3) Sophia m. Michl. P. Cassily, of Cincinnati, and had issue: Ann (m. 
Dr. V. Marshall, one dau., Sophia), Mary (m. Wm. A. Adams, four chil- 
dren), Henrietta (m. B. B. Whitman, ten children), Edward (m. Hunt, 

one child), Charles (m. Lee), William. 

(4) Lydia m. Mr. DeFord. No issue. 

(5) Sally m. Andrew Boggs. Issue : two children (one of whom, Biddle 
Boggs, still living). 

(6) Mary, d. unm. 

IV. Edward Biddle, third son of William Biddle (3d), see page 75, and 
Note C, m. (1761) Elizabeth, dau. of Rev. Mr. Ross, and had issue: — 

(1) Catharine m. George Lux, of Baltimore, and had two children, both 
dying in infancy. 

(2) Abigail m. Dr. Fall, of Md., d. s. p. 

V. Charles Biddle, son of William Biddle (3d) and Mary Scull, 
Author of this Memoir, b. 1745, d. 1821, m. (1778) Hannah Shepard, and 
had issue: — * 

(1) William Shepard, b. 1781, d. 1835, m. Circe Deronceray ; 2d 
Elizabeth B. Keating (nie Hopkinson). No issue. 

(2) James, b. 1783, Commodore U. S. Navy. See Note E; d. unm. 1848. 

(3) Edward, Midshipman U. S. Navy, d. November 14, 1800, on board 
the frigate President, off' the Island of Deseada, AVest Indies. 

(4) Nicholas, b. 1786, d. 1844. See Note D ; m. Jane M., dau. of John 
Craig. Issue : — ^ 

1. Edward m. Jane J. Craig, n4e Sarmiento. Issue: Edith (m. Van 
Rensselaer), Frances, Agnes (m. Ward), Edward (m. Emily Drexel), 
Mildred. 

2. Charles John, member of the bar, entered the U. S. Volunteer Army at 
the time of the Mexican War as Captain of Voltigeurs, breveted Major for 
gallantry at the storming of Chapultepec, City of Mexico. In 1861, Colonel 
of 42d Pennsylvania Regiment, until he took his seat as member of 3 7th 
Congress in December of that year. Died 1873. m. Emma Mather. Issue: 
Emma (m. Thos. E. Dixon), Charles, John Craig, Adfele, Dillon, Alexander 
Mercer, Catharine. 

3. Craig, member of the bar, member of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, 
aid-de-camp of Gen. Patterson in his Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, 
military aid to Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, 1861 and 1862, and now 
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Pliihidelphia; m. Mary C. Rockhill 
(d. 1852). Issue: Mary, d. in infancy. 



NOTES. 371 

4. Meta Craig m. James S. BIddle. Issue: Jane Craig, Nicholas (m.. 
Eliza I. Butler), Meta Craig. 

5. AdMe. 

6. Jane. 

(5) Cliarles Biddle, b. 1787, engaged in business in Philadelphia until 
1826, admitted to the bar, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1827. In 1835, being a 
-warm personal and political friend of General Jackson, was sent by him as 
commissioner to report upon routes for trade across Central America and the 
Isthmus of Panama. In 1836, at Bogotd, he obtained a concession of the 
right to navigate the Cruces River, and to construct a railroad or a maca- 
damized road to Panama ; also the exclusive right to steam navigation on 
the Magdalena River. Died 1836. m. Ann H. Stokes (1808). Issue:— 

1. Sarah m. Major Jno. S. Lytle, U. S. Army. Issue: Eliza L. (m. 
Robert Campbell ; children, Sally, Helen). 

2. Charles, d. in infancy. 

3. Mary m. Peter Vandervoort, of New York. Issue : Anna, Charles, 
Mary, Catharine, Theodore, Elizabeth, Meta, Gertrude. 

4. Ann, m. Saml. Leonard. Issue: Catharine (m. Edw. S. Harlan), 
James ^. (m. Catharine Pepper), Rosalie. 

5. Catharine C. 

6. James S., entered U. S. Navy, 1833 ; resigned 1856. m. Meta Craig 
Biddle (1846). Issue: Jane Craig, Nicholas (m. Eliza I. Butler), Meta 
Craig. 

7. Hannah S. 

8. Elizabeth N. 

(6) Thomas, b. 1790, entered the army in 1812, served with distinction 
as Captain in Colonel Pike's Regiment on the Canada frontier. He was 
afterwards transferred to the artillery, and was twice wounded at the battle 
of Lundy's Lane, »nd again in the defence of Fort Erie, being breveted 
Major for the latter service. General Winfield Scott always referred to 
Captain Riddle's conduct in action under him with affectionate enthusiasm 
(see his Autobiography). In 1820 he accepted an appointment as Pay- 
master, and was stationed at St. i^ouis. In 1831 he fell in a duel with Mr. 
Spencer Pettis, member of Congress, in a quarrel arising out of a violent 
political contest. He m. Ann, dau. of John Mullanphy, and died without 
issue. See Simpson's Imminent Philadelphians. 

(7) John, b. 1792, d. 1859, also entered the army in 1812 with his brother 
Thomas, and served in the same operations, being also promoted to major. 
Resigning after the war, he settled in Detroit, was a delegate in Congress in 
1829-31, and President of the Convention which formed the first Constitu- 
tion for the State of Michigan, m. Eliza Bradish. Issue: — 

1. Thomas, d. s. p. 

2. Margaretta m. General Andi-ew Porter, U. S. Army. Issue : Biddle 
Porter m. Elizabeth M. Rush. 



372 NOTES. 

3. William S. m. Susan Ogflen. Issue: Susan, Eliza, John, Stratford, 
Margaret, Andrew, William, Annie. 

4. James m. Margt. Terry. Issue: Louisa and Catharine. 

5. Edward J. m. Frances Davidson. Issue : Beatrice, Nicholas, Con- 
stance, Violet, Guy. ' 

(8) Richard, b. 1796, d 1847 ; an eminent member of the Pittsburgh Bar, 
member of Congress 18.37-41 , author of "Life of Sebastian Cabot." m. Ann 
Anderson, of Pittsburgh. Issue: — 

1. Richard. 

2. Grace m. Rev. Hall Mcllvaine (issue: Annie, Grace, Edith). 

(9) Mary, d. 1854, m. John G. Biddle (who d. 182G). Issue: — 
1. Anne E. Biddle'. 

(10) Ann, b. 1800, m. Francis Hopkinson, and d. 18G3. Issue: — 

1. Hamilton, d. unm. 

2. Thomas. 

3. Charles, d. unra. 

4. Ann m. Rev. Edw. A. Foggo, D D. 

5. Emily m. Alden Scovell, of Camden, N. J. (issue: Emily, Florence, 
Alden C). 

VI. Nicholas, fifth son of William Biddle and Mary Scull, b. 17.50, 
killed on board frigate Randolph, 1778, unmarried. See page 109 and Note 
D, also Simpson's Philadelphians. 

VII. Thomas, youngest son of Wm. Biddle and Mary Scull, b. 1752, 
became doctor of medicine, and died, February, 1775, at Georgetown, South 
Carolina, unmarried. 

John, the youngest son of William Biddle (2d) — refer back to pages 366-7 
— was born in 1707, and March 3, 1736, m., by Friends' ceremony, Sarah 
Owen ; among the witnesses were Nicholas and Abigail Scull, William (3d) 
and Mary Biddle, and Mrs. Penelope AVhitehoad (sister of the groom). 
Issue : — 

1. Owen, b. 1738. 

2. Clement, b. 1740. 

3. Sarah. 4. Ann. 5. Lydia. 

I. Owen Biddle [see Note H] b. 1738, m. Sarah Parlce, and had 
issue: — 

(1) Jane. 

(2) John m. Elizabeth Canby, and had issue : Samuel, S.arah, Margaret, 
Jacob (m. Hopkins, onedau.), James C. (m. Sally Drinker. Issue: Eliza'th 
m. Rev. Mr. Halsey, Henry D., Hetty D., Mary D.), Frances (m. Thos. 
C. Garrett. Issue : Eliz'th, Rebecca, Frances, Philip C, John B., Martha, 
Hetty B.), William (m. Eliz'th C. Garrett. Issue: John W., Samuel), 
Edward C, President of Westmoreland Coal Company (m. Hetty H. Foster. 



NOTES. 373 

Issue: Hetty F., William F.), Rebecca (m. Alfred Cope. Issue: James 
B.), John, President of Locust Mt. Coal Company (m. Mary B. Foster. 
Issue; Hetty B., John, d. young, Mary, Elizabeth). 

(3) Rebecca m. Peter Thompson, 4 children. 

(4) Sarah. 
(6) Tacy B. 

(6) Owen m. Eliz'th Rowan, 4 children. 

(7) Thomas B. 

(8) Robert B. 

(9) Clement m. Mary Canby. Issue : — 

Martha. 

Robert m. Anna M. Miller. Issue : Charles M. (m. Hannah 
Mcllvaine), Henry C. (m Anna Mcllvaine), Hannah M. (m. J. C. 
"NV. Frishmuth), Elizabeth (m. Frishmuth), Martha C. 

William Canby m. Rachel M. Miller Issue: Clement M. (m. 
Lydia Cooper), Frances Canby (m. Clement A. Griscom), Helen 
(m. George B. Thomas), Mary (m. Howard Wood), Hannah N. (m. 
Charles Williams). 

Henry, d. young. 

Clement m. 1st Susan T. Walton. Issue: William W. (m.,Mary 
Taggart), m. 2d Susan W. Cadwallader. Issue: Canby, d. young, 
Francis C. (m Sarah Pennock), Anne. 

(10) Anne m. John Tatum. 

II. Clkment Biddle,* son of John Biddle and Sarah Owen [See Note 
H], b. 1740, m. 1st Mary Richardson, '2d Rebecca Cornell. Issue, by 
second wife only : — 

(1) Francis, d. in infancy. 

(2) Thomas, b. 177G, d. 1857. the eminent banker, founder of the house 
of Thomas A. Bidctle & Company, m. Christine Williams. Issue : — 

1. Clement, d. unm. 

2. Thomas Alexander m. Julia Cox. Issue: John, Henry W. m. Jesse 
Turner, Anna m. Andrew A. Blair, Alfred, AVm. Lyman, Francis, Julia 
m. Ai'thur Biddle. 

3. Henry J., Adjutant-General'of Penna. Reserve, d. July, 18G2, of 
wounds received in the seven days' battle before Richmond, m. Mary D. 
Baird (descendant of Wm. Biddle (3d) and INIary Scull), and had issue; 
Jonathan W., Lydia M. (m. Moncure Robinson, Jr.), Spencer F. B., 
Christine, Henry J. 

4. Alexander, Lieutenant-Colonel of 121st Pennsylvania Regiment in war 
of 1861-5, and specially distinguished at Gettysburg, President of Board of 
City Trusts, m. Julia W. Rush. Issue: Alexander W. (m. McKennan), 
Henry R., Julia, James W., Louis A., Mariamne, Lynford. 



* A full statement of the descendants of Clement Biddle, prepared by Mr. 
Walter L. C. Biddle, has recently been printed in Bougher's Repository. 



374 NOTES. 

5. Jonathan Williams, d. 1856, m. Emily Meigs. Issue: Christine (m. 
Richard M. Cadwalader), Charles M., Williams, Mary, Thomas, Emily W. 

(3) George Washington, d. 1812, at Macao, China. 

(4) Mary, eldest daughter of Clement Biddle, m. General Thomas Cad- 
walader. Issue: — 

1. John, Judge of U. S. District Court, d. 1879, m. 1st Mary Binney. 
Issue: Mary B. (m. Wm. Henry Rawle), Elizabeth B. (m. Geo. H. Hare), 
and m. 2d Henrietta M. Mcllvaine, nee Bancker. Issue : Sarah B., Frances, 
Thomas, Charles E., John (m. Mary Helen Fisher), Ann (m. Rev. H. J. 
Rowland), George. 

2. George, Major-General in the Mexican War, and in the war of 18G1-5, 
d. 1879, m. Frances Mease. 

3. Thomas. 

4. Henry, U. S. Navy, d. 1844. 

5. William. 

(5) Rebecca C, daughter of Clement Biddle, d. 1870, m. Dr. Nathaniel 
Chapman. Issue: — 

1. Emily C, m. Jno. M. Gordon. Issue: Chapman, John M., Susan 
F., Emily, Rebecca C. 

2. John Biddle, m. Mary Randolph, of Virginia. Issue: Gabriella m. 
the Marquis de Podestad Fornari, and Emily m. Prince Joseph PignatelH 
DeAragon. 

3. George W., Lieutenant U. S. Navy, d. 1853, m. Emily Markoe. 
Issue: Mary R. m. John B. Thayer, Elizabeth C. m. Wm. D. Winsor, 
Henry C. m. Hannah Megargee, Rebecca m. Jas. D. Winsor, George, d. 
in infancy. 

(6) Clement Cornell Biddle, son of Clement Biddle, d. 1855; entered 
the navy 1799, resigned 1804, commanded Penn. Regt. Light Infantry 
(volunteers) in 1812-14, the principal founder and for many years Presi- 
dent of Philadelphia Savings F'und Society, writer on political economy, 
m. Mary S. Barclaj'. Issue : — 

1. John B., Professor of Materia Medica, Jefferson College, m. Caroline 
Phillips. Issue : Anna C. m. C. S. Phillips, Harriet m. DeGrasse Fox, 
William P., Lieutenant U. S. Marines, Clement, Surgeon U. S. Navy, 
Elizabeth R. m. Samuel M. Miller, M.D., Caroline. 

2. George Washington, eminent member of the Bar of Philadelphia, m. 
Maria McMurtrie. Issue : George m. Mary H. Rodgers, of New York, 
Algernon Sydney m. Frances Robinson, Arthur m. Julia, dau. of Thomas 
A. Biddle. 

3. Chapman, d. 1880, member of the Bar of Philadelphia, commanded 
the 121st Pennsylvania Regiment in the war of 18G1-5, was present at the 
battle of Fredericksburg, and greatly distinguished on the first day of Gettys- 
burg, where he commanded a brigade and was wounded, m. Mary L. 
Cochran, of New York. Issue: Mary C, Clement C, d. young, AValter 
L. C. m. Pauline Davis Carter. 



NOTES. 375 

(7) Ann, d. in infancy. 

(8) Lydia H., d. young. 

(9) Sarah T., d. young. 

(10) Ann W., dau. of Clement Biddle, d. 1878, m. Thomas Dunlap. 
Issue : Sally, Juliana, Lydia, Mary, Rebecca, Nannie m. George M. 
Conarroe, Thomas m. Margaret A. Levis. 

(11) John G., son of Clement Biddle, banker with his brother Thomas 
Biddle, d. 1826, m. Mary Biddle (dau. of Charles Biddle, writer of this 
work). Issue: Ann Eliza. 

(12) James Cornell, son of Clement Biddle, d. 1838, a member of the 
Bar of Philadelphia, m. Sarah C. Keppele. Issue :^- 

1. Thomas, U. S. Minister to Ecuador, d. at Guyaquil, 1875, m. Sarah F. 
White. Issue: Caldwell K., Harrison AV., Sarah, James C, Elizabeth C- 

2. Caldwell K., d. 18G2, m. Elizabeth Meade, n^e Ricketts. 

3. Catharine K. m. William P. Tatham. 

4. Rebecca, d. unm. 

5. James C. m. Gertrude G. Meredith. Issue: Catharine M., Sarah C. 

(13) Edward R., son of Clement Biddle, removed to New Yoi"k. Mar- 
ried. Issue: Edward R., James (Major U. S. Army). 

HI. Sakah Biddle, dau. of John Biddle and Sarah Owen (refer to 
page 372), m. 1st James Penrose, 2d John Shaw, 3d Rudolph Tellier. By 
first marriage left issue : — 

Clement Biddle Penrose m. Anna Howard Bingham. 

IV. Ann, dau. of John Biddle and Sarah Owen (page 372) m. General 
James Wilkinson, U. S. Army. Issue : "John, James, and J. B. 

V. Lydia, dau. of John Biddle and Sarah Owen (page 372), m. Dr. 
James Hutchinson, and died without issue.* 



* The ffenealogical matter inserted in this note has been put together as pro- 
bably of some interest to the members of the family, and with this view alone. 
It would have required much time and labor to have made it complete, but it is 
believed that what is here recorded is accurate, and will enable those who may 
be so disposed to pursue the subject On the next page is a table brought down 
to the 3d or ith in descent from William Biddle (1st). 



it 

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NOTES. 377 

It. has been said above that the names Bi(h]ulph and Bidrlle are identical. 
Macaulay, in writing of William Penn, refers to a loose liabit of spelling 
names as "characteristic of the age." In fact, even the monosyllabic sur- 
name of the founder of Pennsylvania is spelled by Pepys in three different 
ways : Pen, Penn, Penne. 

A stronger illustration may be found in the Lives of the Lindsays, vol. ii. 
p. 412, vFhere eighty-eiriht ways of spelling Lindsay are exhibited, all of 
them taken from documentary title papers of the same family in regular 
descent. 

In Lower's Patronymica Brittanica, at pp. xxix. and xxx. the author 
gives a full account of the sources of English surnames and remarks : " The 
most valuable of these documents are the two folio volumes known as the 
"Rotuli Hundredorum" or Hundred Rolls of the date of 1273," etc At 
page 26, he gives: — 

"BiDDLE 1. A modification of Biddulph. 

2. Ang-Sax, a beadle, messenger, herald or proclaimer. Biddle, 
without a prefix, is found in the Rotuli Hundredorum. 

Biddulph. — A parish in Co. Staff'ord, very anciently possessed by the 
family who descended from Ricardus Forestarius, a great Domesday Tenant. 
— Erdeswick's Staflbrdshire." . 

In Keith Johnson's Royal Atlas, recent edition, the index gives the name 
^'Biddle or Biddulph," referring to the town about eight miles from New 
Castle-under- Lyne. In Domesday Book, which was finished A. D. 1086, 
this town is entered as Bidolf. P'reeman briefly describes Domesday Book 
as intended "to report who had held the land in the time of King Edward, 
and who held it then." — Norman Conquest. 

In Shaw's History of Staffordshire, vol. i. p. 352, is the "Pedigree of 
Biddulph, of Elndmrst." It begins at "48 Edward 3d," and runs in direct 
descent to — ^ 

Simon Byddell, buried in 1579. 
His son Simon Biddulph, died 1596. 
His son Simon Biddle, died 1632. 
His son Michael Biddulph, died 1657. 

In the same pedigree occurs the spelling Bedulph. 

The Michael Biddulph who died in 1657 is given, in the pedigree, ten sons. 
The names of four only are set forth, and Mr. Biddle-Cope is confident that 
the William Biddle who came to New Jersey was one of the '■'■Six other 
sons" who are there mentioned. 

In the Ilarleian MSS., No. 2043 Br. MuS., is an interesting account of 
the oiege of Lichfield Close by the Roundheads, during which Lord Brooke 
was killed. We find there: — 

"Lord Brooke .... had a great desire to march on foot to see 
what execution was made against the gates or wall. And out of j\lr. Michael 
Biddle's (alias Biddulpli's) house, a little below the Market house, his lord- 
ship came forth in a plush cassock," etc. 



378 NOTES. 

In Brewer's Description of Warwickshire, under BirJingbury, p. 93, he 
says: "By this hidy the estate was conveyed in 1G87 to Symon Biddulph, 
Esq. The family of Biddulph were originally seated in Staffordshire, and 
took their names from the village of Biddulph in that county 'of which,' 
says Dr. Thomas, 'they have been lords since the conquest.' " 

In Nightingale's Staffordshire, published in 1813, p. 1071, he says : "But 
these people of Biddulph, or as they call it Biddle, seem to be a totally dif- 
ferent race," etc. 

The colloquial usage is the same at the present day, as confirmed by the 
personal observation of Mr. Biddle-Cope ; namely, that by the country 
people the two final letters of Biddulph are not sounded, and the word is 
commonly pronounced as If written Biddle. 

It would be easy to extend this line of remark, but this may suffice. 



NOTE B. (Page 1.) 

Nicholas Scull, the Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania, was the eldest of 
the six sons of Nicholas Scull, who emigrated to America (it is supposed 
from the county of Cork, Ireland) from the port of Bristol, in England, in 
the ship Bristol Merchant, John Stephens, commander, landing at Chester 
on the 10th of ninth month, 1685. The first progenitor of the family in 
England was a Norman, Sir John Scull, who was one of the twelve knights 
mentioned in "Bernard Burke's Landed Gentry," etc., and in Theophilus 
Jones's " History of Brecknockshire," who accompanied the renowned 
warrior Bernard Newmarch into North Wales, and who, in course of time, 
conquered the country. The family spread into the adjoining counties of 
England ; and at some early period — probably in the reign of Henry II, — 
some of them might have accompanied the Welsh Baron, the Earl of Pem- 
broke (Strongbow), into Ireland, and have given the name to the large 
parish and town of Scull, in the southwestern part of the county of Cork. 
When William Penn,as a young man, visited his father's estates in that 
county, some of the members of the Scull family doubtless fell under his 
religious influence, and were induced to accompany Major Jasper Farmer to 
America. Major Farmer was of the same county, and came over in the 
same ship with the father of the subject of this notice. 

Nicholas Scull was born near Philadelphia, in the year 1687, and, in all 
probability, was an apprentice of Thomas Holmes, the first acting Surveyor- 
General. He married Abigail Heap in 1708, who was a relation of his part- 
ner. He was a friend of Franklin, who mentions him in his "Autobio- 
graphy" as a member of the " Junto," formerly called the " Leather- Apron 
Club." He says: " We also had as a member, Nicholas Scull — afterward 
the Surveyor-General — who loved books, and who sometimes made verses." 
There were thirty-eight members, but it was afterward Increased to fifty. 



NOTES. 879 

Franklin proposed the formation of a library, and that each one should pay 
forty shillings, and subscribe ten shillings more annually for fifty years. At 
their debating club, the members of the "Junto" had previously brought 
their books to the room, and left them there as common stock, llobert 
Grace, one of the most active members, allowed them the use of a chamber 
in his house in Pewter-Platter Alley, for their meetings. The library was 
organized in 1731, and in 1739-'40, a room in the State House was appro- 
priated for the reception of the books. In 1742 it was incorporated as 
"The Library Company of Philadelphia." The share of Nicholas Scull 
was numbered "thirty-two," and was dated March 29, 1732. It was for- 
feited in INIay, 1770, was renewed in March, 1857, and is now held by Mr. 
Edward Ijawrence Scull. The late Thomas I. Wharton, Esq., in an inter- 
esting article on the early literature of Philadelphia, written in 1825, says : — 

"In 1727, Franklin instituted a club of mutual improvement, which was 
named the ' Junto,' and which continued nearly forty years without its nature 
and objects being publicly known, though ' the chief measures of Philadel- 
phia,' it is said, ' received their first form here.' The 'Junto' is described 
by its distinguished founder as 'the best school of philosophy, morality, and 
politics, that then existed in the province.' And it appears to have exerted 
a powerful influence on the fortunes of some of its members, and probably con- 
tributed in no small degree to foster that literary taste and philosophical spirit 
which have been the honorable distinction of this city. They met every 
Friday evening, and each member paid a penny a night, to recompense the 
landlord for fire and light. Economy was one of their characteristic virtues. 
Terrapin and whiskey wei'e unknown to their frugal and temperate delibera- 
tions. A copy of the set of twenty-four rules and questions to be asked at 
each meeting, to draw the members out, formed in the time of Dr. Franklin, 
and probably written by him, is still in existence. They show in a very 
strong light the importance, while they display the machinery of the insti- 
tution." 

While still a very young man, Nicholas Scull was actively engaged in 
surveying the wild and uncultivated parts of the province of Pennsylvania, 
and thus acquired a knowledge of the Indian dialects, several of which he 
spoke with fluency. He Was, in consequence, frequently called upon to act 
as one of the interpreters between the Indian chiefs (some of whom where 
his friends) and the agents of Penn, and he was jiresent at many councils 
and treaty ratifications with the Delaware and Conestoga tribes. The 
earliest occasion recorded on which he acted as interpreter was at a council 
held in Philadelphia, April 18, 1728, when, after all business was transacted, 
it was " ordered that three raatchcoats be given to James Letort (an Indian 
trader) and John Scull, to be by them delivered to AUummapus, Mr. Mon- 
tour, and Manawkyhickon, etc." 

In one of the publications of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, it is 
stated that on the 22d of June, 172G, Governor Gordon arrived in the pro- 
vince with a commission from Springett Penn, the grandson and heir of 



380 NOTES. 

William Pcnn. Some trouble having arisen " by reason of some rude in- 
sults from a few strange Indians, who ranged among the inhabitants of the 
province, and some anxiety existing among those who relied on the continu- 
ance of the protection and friendship exhibited toward them during the life 
of William Penn, Governor Gordon appointed a council to be held with them 
at Conestoga, to which place he repaired in person." The council was held 
at the Indian town above named on the 2Gth of May, 1728, and concluded 
on the 2 7th. There were present four chiefs of the Conestoga tribe, three 
of the Delaware Indians on the Brandywine, five of the Gawanese, and three 
chiefs of the Shawanese tribes. Shakawtawlin, or Sam, interpreter from 
the English into the Delaware ; Captain Civility, from the Delaware into 
the Shawanese and Mingoe (alias Conestogoe) ; Pomapechtoe, from the 
Delaware into the Gawanese language ; and Nicholas Scull, John Scull (his 
brother), and Peter Bizallion acted as assistant interpreters. Conciliatory 
speeches were addressed to them by the Governor, and presents of strowd 
matchcoats, duflfells, blankets, shirts, gunpowder, lead Hints, and knives, 
were delivered. One of the Conestoga chiefs replied (which was rendered 
into English by John Scull on the second day of the council) ; then belts of 
wampum of eight rows, and wampum of four strings were presented to the 
Governor as a pledge of amity, and after rum, bread, tobacco, and pipes, 
were delivered to them, and particular presents of a strowd matclicoat and 
a shirt to Captain Civility, and the same to Sam, and one shirt to Poma- 
pecktya, and the (Tovernor taking each of the chiefs by the hand, the coun- 
cil terminated, and the Indians departed for their homes. 

In the year 1730 Nicholas Scull, accompanied by his apprentice, John 
Lukens, was sent by the Provincial Government into what is now Northamp- 
ton County, around the Delaware Water Gap, to report upon the occupation 
of certain lands by the Hollanders, who had tilled their soil unmolested, and 
which extended for forty miles on both sides of the river. Here they had 
dwelt in a little secluded Arcadia for nearly one hundred years, quite un- 
known to the outside world. The venerable Samuel Preston wrote in 1828, 
concerning this very curious fact, as follows : — 

"In 1787 the writer went on his first surveying tour into Northampton 
County. He was deputy under John Lukens, Surveyor-General, avjd re- 
ceived from him, by way of instruction, the following narrative resjiecting 
the settlement of Meenesink, on the Delaware River, above the Kittatinny, 
or Blue Mountains ; that the settlement was formed a long time before it 
was known to the Government of Philadelphia ; that when the Government 
was informed of the said settlement, they passed a law in 1729, that any 
such purchases of the Indians should be void, and the purchasers indicted 
for forcible entry and detainer, according to the laws of England ; that in 
1730 they appointed an agent to go and investigate the facts ; that the agent 
so appointed was the famous surveyor, Nicholas Scull; and that he, John 
Lukens, was then N. Scull's apprentice to carry the chain and learn survey- 
ing; that he accompanied N. Scull, as they both understood and could talk 



NOTES. 381 

Indian. They hired Indian guides and had a fatiguing journey, there being 
then no white inhabitants in the upper part of Bucks or Northampton County; 
they had a very great difficulty to lead their horses through the Water Gap 
to Meenesink Flats, which were all settled with Hollanders. Witli several 
they could only be understood in Indian. At the venerable Samuel Dupuis's 
they found great hospitality and plenty of the necessaries of life. John 
Lukens said the first thing that struck his admiration was a grove of apple 
trees, of size far beyond any near Thiladelphia. And further, that as 
Nicholas Scull and himself examined the banks, they were fully of opinion 
that all these flats had at some former age been a deep lake, before the river 
broke through the mountain, and that the best interpretation thej' could 
make of Meenesink was, "the water is gone ; " that Sam Dupuis told thein 
that when the rivers were frozen he had a good road to Esopus from the 
mine-holes, on the mine road, some one hundred miles, and that he took his 
wheat and cider there for salt and necessaries, and did not appear to have 
any knowledge or idea where the river ran, where Philadelphia market was, 
or of their being in the government of Pennsylvania. They were of opinion 
that the first settlements of Hollanders in Meenesink were many years older 
than William Penn's charter; and, as Samuel Dupuis had treated them so 
well, they concluded to make a survey of his claim, in order to befriend him 
if necessary. When they began to survey the Indians gathered around. An 
old Indian laid his hand on Nicholas Scull's shoulder and said : " Put up iron 
string. Go home." That they then quit and returned. 

Before the death of William Penn, a grant of land had been made to him 
by the Delaware Indians for a certain consideration. He was to have as 
much land as a man could walk over in a day or a day and a half. There 
are conflicting statements as to the time ; but the latter is believed to be 
correct. AVhy the terms of the grant had never been carried out before has 
not, as far as known, been explained. However, in September, 1737, it 
was decided by the Governor and Council to claim the execution of the 
stipulations of the grant, and agents were appointed to carry it out. They 
accordingly proceeded to Bucks County, and the distance was walked over 
by James Yeates and Edward Marshall, Avho had been selected for the 
occasion by the Governor and Council. Nicholas Scull and the Surveyor 
General of Bucks County, Benjamin Eastburn, and others were present, 
besides the Indians. "Lady Jenks," as she was called, was also present. 
Thomas Penn, the Governor, was represented as a man of a cold and formal 
deportment. 

"But, it would seem, however, he was sufficiently susceptible of softer 
and warmer emotions, he having, it was said, brought with him to this 
country, as an occasional companion, a person of much show and display 
called ' Lady Jenks,' who passed her time 'remote from the city,' in the then 
wilds of Bucks County ; but her beauty, accomplishments, and expert horse- 
manship made her soon of notoriety enough to make every woman, old and 
young, in the country her chronicle. They say she rode with him at Ibx- 



882 NOTES. 

huntings, and at the famous 'Indian walk,' in men's clothes (meaning, 
without doubt, their simple conceptions of the masculine appearance of her 
riding-habit array), garbed like a man in a petticoat." 

This "great walk," as it was called, was from that time until after the 
Revolution a very sore subject with the Delaware Indians of tliat locality, 
and was for many years, in Bucks County, the occasion of much discussion 
and angrj^ animadversion against the Provincial Government. Dr. John 
Watson, the father of the annalist, sided very warmly with the "poor 
Indians," for whom he was always a strenuous advocate. He alleges that 
they were cheated out of their lands by the Provincial Government, and 
wrote a circumstantial narrative, which was deposited in the library of the 
Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. It is entitled "A Narrative, by 
John Watson, of the Indian Walk, being a Purchase of Land made of the 
Indians in Pennsylvania," 1756. This, the writer I'cgrets, he has never had 
the opportunity of perusing ; but it appears that it is asserted in it that " the 
Government publicly advertised a fee of £5 for the greatest walker for one 
day, and procured Marshall, who ran over four times as much ground as the 
Indians expected." Dr. Watson argues and supposes that all the country 
northwest of Wrightstown meeting-house was taken from the Delawares 
without compensation. His son, in his "Annals," says: — 

" Complaints were made about the year 1755, '56, by Tedenscung, at the 
head of the Delaware Indians, that they had been cheated in tlieir lands, 
bought on one-and-a-half day's walk along the Neshamina and forks of the 
Delaware, back forty-seven miles (N. Scull says fifty-five statute miles) to 
the mountains ; and I have seen the whole repelled in a long manuscript 
report to Governor Dennie by the Committee of Council, in which the 
history of all the Indian treaties is given, and wherein they declare that 
till that time (1757) the Penn Proprietaries had more than fulfilled all their 
obligations by treaties, etc., paying for some purchases, to different and sub- 
sequent nations, over and over again. The paper contained much reasoning 
and argument to justify the then Penns." 

Incorporated in the above report or defence was the following, from 
Nicholas Scull, Surveyor-General — 

"Who came into Council, and acquainted the Governor that in September, 
1737, he was present at running the line of the Indian purchase of the lands 
in the forks of the Delaware, with respect to which the Proprietaries were, 
as he was informed, publicly charged with defrauding the Indians ; that lie 
had put down in writing what he had remembered about it, and requested 
that he might be examined thereto, which being done he signed the paper, 
and his afhi-mation was ordered to be entered as follows : — 

"Nicholas Scull, of the city of Philadelphia, surveyor, on his solemn 
affirmation according to law, saith, that he was present when James Yeates 
and Edward Marshall, together with some Indians, walked one day and a 
half back in the woods, pursuant to a grant of land made by the Delaware 
Indians to the Hon. the late Proprietary, William Penn, deceased ; that 



NOTES. 383 

the said day-anrl-a-half's walk was begun at a place near Wriglitstown, in 
the county of Bucks, some time in September, 1737, and continued from 
the place aforesaid to some distance beyond the Kittatinny mountains ; that 
he believes the whole distance walked not to be more than fifty-five statute 
miles ; that Benjamin Eastburn, Surveyor General, Timothy Smith, Sheriff 
of said county of Bucks, and he, this ufHrmant, attended at the said day- 
and-a-half's walk from the beginning until the same was ended ; that he well 
remembers that particular care was taken not to exceed the time of one day 
and a half, or eighteen hours ; that he, this affirmant, then thought, and 
still thinks the said walk to be fairly performed, and believes that the said 
walkers did not run or go out of a walk at any time, nor does he remember 
that those Indians who were present made any complaint of unfair practice ; 
that Benjamin Eastburn and this affirmant, with some others, lodged the 
night after the said walk was completed at an Indian town called Poakopoh- 
kunk, where there were many of the Delawares, among whom he well 
remembers there was one called Captain Harrison, a noted man among the 
Indians ; and this affirmant further saith, that he does not remember that the 
said Captain Harrison, or any other of the Indians, made any complaint, or 
showed the least uneasiness at anything that was done relating to tlie said 
day-and-a-half's walk ; and he verily believes that if any complaiijt had 
been made, or uneasiness shown by the Indians concerning said walk, he 
must have heard and remembered it. 

Nich's Scull. 

Affirmed in Council, 25th January, 1757. 

Wm. Denny." 

Compared with the recent pedestrian feats of Weston and others fifty-five 
statute miles in one-day-and-a-half's walking, even through the woods, does 
not seem to be a very great achievement. But it is quite certain the Indians 
thought difierently*about the distance gone over, for the authority above 
quoted says : — 

"The Indians always cherished a spirit of revenge against Marshall, and a 
party of warriors once came from their settlement at Wyoming to seek his 
life. He was from home, but his wife was made prisoner, and his children 
escaped by an Indian thoughtlessly throwing his matchcoat over a bee-hive, 
which caused the party to be so attacked and stung that they went off with- 
out the children. The mother, being pregnant, could not keep up with the 
party, and her bones and remains were found six months afterward on the 
Broad Mountain. 

"In the Revolutionary war the Indian warriors again returned from west 
of the Ohio into Tinicum or Noxamixon Township, still aiming at Marshall's 
life, and he again escaped by being from home. They then went back 
through New Jersey. This they told themselves after the peace. When 
Edward Mai-shall, who performed the extraordinary Indian walk, became 
offended with his reward, he cursed Penn and his ' half- wife' to their faces." 



884 NOTES. 

Nidiolas Scull was elected Sheriff of Philadelphia in the years 1744, '45, 
and '46. In the " Annals" it is mentioned that it is known that the first 
person who ever had the boldness to publish himself as a candidate for 
Sheriff, and to laud his own merits, occurred in the person of Moi-decai Lloyd, 
in the year 1744, begging the good people for their votes by his publications 
in English and German. At the same time Nicholas Scull, an opposing 
candidate, resorted to the same measure, and apologized for " the new 
mode" as imposed upon him by the practice of others. 

On the 10th of June, 1748, he succeeded William Parsons as Surveyor- 
General. On the 21st of October, 1758, a grand council was held with the 
Indians at Easton (where his two sons, Nicholas and Jasper, lived), where 
the members of the Pennsylvania Council received a message from Mr. 
Conrad Weiser, "that the chiefs of the United Nations were met in council 
with their nephews, the Delawares, at the house of Nicholas Scull, and that 
the Delawares had something to say to their uncles," etc., etc. This was 
the last time, probably, that he acted as interpreter. 

In 1752 an English surveyor appeared in the province, and made some 
adverse criticisms upon the practice of his profession, which called forth 
the following letter from the Surveyor-General, Nicholas Scull, to 11. Peters : 

Philadelphia, March 17, 1752. 
Sir: — I have perused Mr. Jack's letter, and think his method of finding 
the meridian, the tangent line, and running the circumference of the circle 
to be good, as well as plain and easier to be conceived. His opinion also of 
the insufficiency of the needle in running of long lines is doubtless very 
just. But 1 must own myself at a loss to understand him when he says 
that there is nothing at all in the objection that a line run with stakes will 
be an arch of a great circle, and not a parallel of latitude, or east and west 
line. For my part, I must confess that I always understood an east and 
west line and a parallel of latitude to mean the same thing, and I conceive 
nothing more evident tlian that a great circle cannot be a parallel of latitude. 
If so, then a line run with stakes cannot be an east and west line. How- 
ever, as I am convinced by Mr. Jack's letter that he is far superior to me 
in mathematical learning, I shall at present submit to his better judgment ; but 
lest some people on this side the water should think him mistaken on this 
point, I think it my duty to advise the having it settled at home before the 
lines between the jDrovinces are begun. I am your assured friend, 

Nicholas Scull. 
To Richard Peters, Esq. 

N. B — I forgot to observe above that we have no such instrument as 
Mr. Jack mentions. 

There are still extant, in good preservation, a number of admirably exe- 
cuted maps of Philadelphia, and views of the river front of the city, of an 
early date, from the oflice of the Surveyor General, bearing his own iinpi-int 



NOTES. 385 

and that of Scnll & Heap. He died in the year 1761-'62, in Phihidelphia, 
and was buried in the ohl family ground near Scheetz's mill, at Whitemarsh. 
His tombstone was standing forty jears ago, but has since disappeared. The 
headstone of his wife still remained two or three years ago. On it was the 
following inscription, written by him: — 

To the memory of Abigail, the wife of Nicholas Scull, 

who departed this life the 21st of May, 1753, aged 

sixty-five years. 

" The ashes of the tender wife lie here — 
The tender mother and the friend sincere : 
Her mind each female ornament possessed, 
And yirtue reigned triumphant in her breast." 

Another interment was made in the ground, near the above, early in the 
present century, that was attended by an aged aunt of Mr. Samuel J. Chris- 
tian's. It was of Lydia, the daughter of Mrs. Mary Scull Biddle, who 
married Captain McFunn, of the Royal Navy, and Governor of the Island 
of Antigua, whose only son — William Biddle McFunn — took the surname 
of Biddle, in conformity with the wish of his uncle Edward, who left him a 
large estate. He married Lydia Spencer. His grandfather — William 
Biddle — was the son of the William Biddle who emigrated in the time of 
William Penn from England to West Jersey. Mrs. Mary Biddle inherited 
from her father his jDoetic faculty — for she too "loved books, and sometimes 
made verses." Many of these have been preserved in the family, but I 
am not aware of any of them ever having appeared in print. The follow- 
ing impromptu, from her pen, was written July 20th, 1788, and was 
addressed to her niece, Sally Tellier, who was about to embark for England, 
on her way to Berne, Switzerland : — 

" While you to distant climes prepare to go, 
I too must travel, but I travel slow. 
Near eighty years since first I saw the light, 
And now approaches near the expected night. 
You different nations, various scenes, will meet ; 
See rocks and precipices beneath your feet ; 
Mountains whose summits seem to reach the skies, 
With pastoral cottages beneath them rise ; 
While I a foreign country must explore. 
From whose lone banks and desolated shore 
No traveller returns to tell us where 
This country lies, or who inhabits there. 
Ah, no ! My fancy paints its verdant plains, 
Delightful groves, and clear, transparent streams ; 
Its bowers of bliss — for Peace herself is there, 
And from her presence flies that harpy. Care. 
Love, faith, and joy divine the soul employ. 
And raptures such as saints enthroned enjoy ! 
25 



386 NOTES. 

This is the country I have striven to gain — 
Through life's long pilgrimage my constant aim. 
Sweet, cheering Hope attends me on my way, 
And leaves me not, I trust, on that important day. 
May you, my dear relation, friendship meet, 
And every good, in Berne's delightful seat. 
Blest in a husband and an only son, 
My prayers you'll have until my course is run. 

" God bless you ! 

" From your affectionate aunt, 

" Mary Biddle." 

The old Inirial-ground of tlie " Scull family" — mentioned in a recent 
chapter of Wescott's "History of Philadelphia" — formed part of " Spring- 
field Manor," an estate of four hundred acres that was purchased by Nicho- 
las Scull in 1G88, and laid out on December 24, 1692. 

John Lukens was a native of Horsham, and succeeded to the Surveyor- 
Generalship on the death of Nicholas Scull, in December, 17G8. John 
Biddle was also an apprentice with Jolin Lukens under Nicholas Scull, 
and married, in 1736, Sarah Owen, daughter of Owen Owen. James, the 
youngest son of the Surveyor, married twice, and had five sons and three 
daughters. His oldest son, Peter, was born December, 1753, and was bred a 
lawyer, but entered the Continental army as major. He was aide-de-camp to 
General Washington at the battle of White Plains. He was an accomplished 
and gallant officer, and was one of three candidates for the office of Secre- 
tary of the Board of War. Washington indorsed his claims belore a com- 
mittee of Congress by saying : " Gentlemen, Major Scull is a young man, 
but an old officer." He was a friend and connection by marriage with 
Alexander Graydon, the author of "Tlie Memoirs," etc., and is several 
times mentioned in that work. His commission as major of a regiment of 
foot commanded by Colonel John Patton is dated January 11th, 1777. He 
was also Secretary of the Board of War July 17th, 1779. His name is ap- 
pended to the commission granted by Congress to Henry Savage, gentleman, 
to be second lieutenant in Colonel Crane's regiment of artillery. His health 
failing, he was ordered abroad by his physician, and sailed from Chester for 
France, October 20th, 1779, in the frigate Confederacy, but he died at sea, 
as certified to by Nathan Dorsey, surgeon of the ship, December 4th, 1779. 
The late Andrew Graydon, of Harrisburg, had in his possession in 1850 
Major Scull's papers. There were letters referring to his illness, his will, 
an inventory of his books, clothing, etc., and some note-books. His will is 
dated November 23d, 1779. To his friend, Dr. Potts, he bequeathed the 
thanks of a dying man ; to his friend, Alexander Graydon, his pocket-pistols ; 
to Geo. Lux the sword given to him by his honored father-in-law, and his 
friend and protector, Edward Biddle ; to Colonel Morgan Conner his green- 



NOTES. 387 

hiked hanger; and to Colonel Patton, of Philadelphia, his silver buckles. 
His executors were his mother (his father's second wife), Susannah, and his 
friends James Biddle and Alexander (iraydon. 

A tragical occurrence is thus related in the Gentleman' s ^larjazine : — 
"Philadelphia.— On Wednesday, August 27th, 17G0, Mr. Robert Scull, of 
this place, with some company, was playing at billiards, when Mr. Bruleman, 
lately an officer in the Royal American regiment, was present, who without 
the least provocation levelled a loaded gun he had with him, and shot Mr. 
Scull through the body as he was going to strike his ball ; for which he 
was afterward tried, and on the 8tli of October executed. Bruleman was by 
trade a silversmith, which business he left and went into the army, where he 
was an officer in the royal American Regiment, but was discharged on being 
detected In counterfeiting or uttering counterfeit money. He then returned 
to Philadelphia ; and, growing Insupportable to himself, and yet being un- 
willing to put an end to his own life, he determined upon the commission of 
some crime for which he might get hanged by the law. Having formed 
this design, he loaded his gun with a brace of balls and asked his landlord 
to go a-shooting with him — intending to murder him before he returned. 
But his landlord, not choosing to go, escaped the danger. He then went 
out and met Dr. Cadwalader, who spoke to him so politely that Jt quite 
turned him from his purpose against him. He then went to a public house, 
where he drank some liquor ; and hearing people at play at billiards in a 
room above stairs, he went up to them, and was talkative, facetious, and 
seemingly good humored. After some time he called to the landlord, and 
desired him to hang up the gun. Mr. Scull, who was at play, having struck 
his antagonist's ball Into one of the pockets, Bruleman said to him : ' Sir, 
you are a good marksman, and I will now show you a fine stroke.' He 
immediately levelled his j^Iece and took aim at Mr. Scull (who imagined 
him in jest), and shot both the balls through his body. He then Avcnt up to 
Mr. Scull (who d4d not expire nor lose his senses till a considerable time 
after), and said to him: ' Sir, I had no malice or Ill-will against you — for 
I never saw you before ; but I was determined to kill somebody that I might 
be hanged, and you happened to be the man ; and as you are a very likely 
young man, I am sorry for your misfortune.' Mr. Scull had time to send 
for his friends and to make his will. He forgave his murderer, and. If it 
could be done, desired that he might be pai'doned." 

Of this unfortunate aflair, Charles Biddle has left the following account, 
which should have been inserted in its proper place. Robert Scull was his 
cousin. 

Sitting one evening at my mother's door with Captain 
Robert Scull, a cousin of my mother's, one Bruleman went 
by. He was a genteel looking man. As he walked along 
he had a cane in his hand, which he kept throwing up, and 



388 NOTES. 

catching as it fell. Mr. Scull inquired what strange fellow 
that was. I told him he was a jeweller, who lived with a 
Mr. Milne, a few doors from us ; that he had been an officer 
in the army, but was dismissed the service on suspicion of 
being concerned with some coiners ; that he appeared to be 
an inoffensive man, but was supposed, since his dismissal, 
to be a little deranged. Mr. Scull expressed himself a good 
deal concerned for him. A day or two after this, Bruleman 
went to the Schuylkill with a loaded gun with an intention 
to shoot himself in the woods, but he said he could not do 
it. He was then determined to shoot some person in order 
that he might be executed. The first he met after he had 
made up his mind was Dr. Cadwalader, who politely pulled 
ofl['his hat to him. This saved the Doctor. Another person 
he met spoke to him in so kind a manner, that he could not 
shoot him. One other he saw in the woods, but he said there 
was no person that could be a witness against him. He then 
went into the billiard room at the Centre Tavern, pulled off 
his coat and hung it up. Captain Scull was then playing. 
In passing by where the coat was, he accidentally threw it 
down ; and immediately after, making a good stroke, Brule- 
man took up his gun and presenting it at Captain Scull, say- 
ing at the same time, " Sir, you have made a good stroke, I 
will show you a better," and fired across the table. One of 
the balls went through his body and lodged in the door. He 
walked to the corner of the room, leaned upon his mace 
which broke, and he fell. When the gentlemen in the room 
went up to him, he said, " The villain has murdered me." 
In the confusion, Bruleman could have got off", but this he 
did not want. He requested one of the company to load his 
piece and shoot him. He was carried to gaol, and soon after 
tried and executed. He suffered with great fortitude, appear- 
ing anxious to leave the world, saying no man should remain 
in it who had lost his character. Captain Scull was in the 
prime of life, and had just acquired an independent fortune. 

See also Watson's Annals, vol. i. p. 560. 



NOTES. 389 

Mr. Robert vScull was buried at the corner of Fifth and Arch streets. 
He left a son, John, a minor, who was sent fo Carlisle to be educated — a 
faithful slave, Caesar, attending him. John Biddle and John Lukens are 
named in Mr. Scull's will as his brothers-in-law. 

Nicholas Scull, the Surveyor-General, had nine children, viz. ; Mary 
(born August 2, 1709, died, 1790, in Philadelphia), married William Biddle, 
father of Charles Biddle; Nicholas, born October 26, 1711 ; Elizabeth, born 
April 2, 1714; Edwai'd, born October 26, 1716; Jasper, born December 3, 
1718; John, born January 28, 1721 died March 21, 1769; Abigail, born 
December 28, 1724 ; Ann Scull, born November 13, 1727; and James, born 
November 22, 1730. 

Edward, John, Jasper, and James Scull, sons of Nicholas Scull (second), 
removed to Reading, Pennsylvania, where some of their descendants still 
reside. John Scull, a son of Jasper Scull, went to Pittsburgh in 1786, and 
established the Pittsburgh Gazette, which Avas the first newspaper published 
west of the Allegheny Mountains. This John Scull Avas the ancestor of the 
branch of the family settled in Westmoreland County of this State. Nich- 
olas Scull, the oldest son of the Surveyor-General, according to the records 
of Christ Church, was married October 7, 1732, to Rebecca Thomjj^on. 

Descendants of James Scull (brother of Mrs. William Biddle) are living 
in Florida, and the Rev. William Dundas Scull, a clergyman of the Episco- 
pal Church, recently died in Alabama or Florida. 

The wife of the late Alderman Peter Christian, of this city (sister of the 
late William Biddle Scull), was a lineal descendant of Joseph Scull, sixth 
son of Nicholas Scull (first), her father being Benjamin Franklin Scull, a 
godson of Dr. Franklin. Two of her brothers settled in Arkansas (Pine 
Bluff) about 1800 ; and one brother, Joseph, went to Cuba about the same 
time, all leaving numerous descendants. 

For the information contained in this note, we are indebted to Mr. G. D. 
Scull, now residing at Rugby Lodge, Oxford, England. 



NOTE C. (Page 75.) 

Edward Biddle, brother of Charles Biddle, was born in 1738, and at the 
age of sixteen entered the Provincial Army, the name of " Ensign Biddle" 
appearing under the head of " Provincial Officers — 1754," in Pennsylvania 
Archives, 2d series, vol. 2, p. 557-8. He was again appointed in 1757 
ensign in Colonel Burd's battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment and pro- 
moted to lieutenant in 1759. February 24, 1760, he was commissioned a 
captain in Colonel Hugh Mercer's battalion. (Same vol., p. 607.) 



390 NOTES. 

He served in the campaign of General Forbes in 1758, and was present 
at the capture of Fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh) in November of that 
year. It is believed that he was also at the capture of Fort Niagara the 
following year by the celebrated Sir William Johnson. 

He subsequently resigned from the army, receiving for his services a 
grant of five thousand acres of land, and, after the usual course of study, 
established himself as a lawyer in Reading, Berks County. 

He represented that county in the Assembly of Pennsylvania from 1767 
to 1775, and in October, 1774, was chosen Speaker, in place of Mr Galloway. 
"Mr. Biddle," says Gordon, "had long represented Berks County, and 
enjoyed the confidence of the House in an eminent degree, being placed 
upon the most important committees, and taking an active part in all current 
business." 

A meeting of the freeholders of the county of Berks was held at Reading, 
July 2, 17 74, to consider the Boston Port Bill, at which Edward Biddle 
presided. Resolutions of the most decided character were adopted and 
"the thanks of the assembly were imanimously voted to the chairman for 
the patriotic and spirited manner in which he pointed out the dangerous 
situation of all the American colonies, occasioned by the unconstitutional 
measures lately adopted by the British Parliament, expressing at the same 
time loyalty to our sovereign, and the most warm and tender regard for the 
liberties of America." 

In July, 1774, he was elected, with seven others, to represent Pennsyl- 
vania in the first Continental Congress. That body met on the 5th of Sep- 
tember. Mr. Biddle was present during the whole of the session and took 
a prominent position, being placed on important committees. 

He was again elected a delegate to Congress in December, 1 774, and in 
November, 17 75. He was also a member of the Provincial Convention, 
held in Philadelphia, January 23 to 28, 1775. 

It was about this time that lie met with the accident mentioned in the 
text, which permanently disabled him from taking any further active share 
in public affairs. On the 15th of March, 17 75, he resigned the Speakership 
on account of ill health, and was unable to attend the Congress of that year. 
We find him, however, chosen by the. Assembly, June 30, 1775, together 
with his brother James, and his cousin, Owen Biddle,* a member of the 
Committee of Safety. 

In 17 78 he again became a member of the Assembly, and on the 20th of 
November was chosen, with six otliers, a delegate in Congress for the ensu- 
ing year. The next day, " Mr. Biddle, one of the gentlemen chosen yester- 
day to represent this State in Congress, informed the House that his state 
of health, as well as his private aflairs, could not, consistent with a regard 
to either, permit him to accept the honor they had done him, and therefore 
desired that he might have leave to resign, which was accordingly granted." 

* See note H. 



NOTES. 391 

On 5th February, 1779, he was appointed with three others upon a com- 
mittee to bring in a "bill for the abolition of slavery within this State." 
In March, 1779, the House proceeded to elect three delegates to Congress 
in the room of Edward Biddle, Dr.'Roberdeau, and William Clingan. His 
last appearance in public life was in the Assembly in March, 1779 ; and on 
the 5th of September of that year he died at Chatsworth, near Baltimore, 
the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Lux. In St. Paul's churchyard, Balti- 
more, upon a tint tombstone, is the following inscription : — 

Under this Stone 

are deposited the remains of 

Edward Biddle, Esq., Counsellor at 

Law, 

Some time Speaker of the House of Assembly of 

Pennsylvania, 

And Delegate in the first and second 

Congress. 

He departed this life Sept. 5, 1779, 

In the 41st year of his age. 

General Wilkinson says In his Memoirs (vol. I. p. 330) : '^I took 
Reading In my route, and passed some days In that place, where I had 
several dear and respected friends, and among them Edward Biddle, Esq., 
a man whose public and private virtues commanded respect, and excited 
admiration from all persons ; he was Speaker of the last Assembly of Penn- 
sylvania under the Proprietary government, and in the dawn of the Revo- 
lution devoted himself to the cause of his country, and successfully opposed 
the overbearing Inflnence of Joseph Galloway. Ardent, eloquent, and full 
of zeal, by his exertions during several days and nights of obstinate, warm, 
and animated discMssion, In extreme sultry weather, he overheated himself, 
and bi'ought on an inflammatory rheumatism and surfeit, which radically 
destroyed his health, and ultimately deprived society of one of its greatest 
ornaments, and his country of a statesman, a patriot, and a soldier : for he 
had served several campaigns In the war of 1 756, and If his health had been 
spared would, no doubt, have occupied the second or third place in the 
Revolutionary armies." 

The notice of him which appeared at his death, written by Mr. James 
Read, then a member of the Supreme Executive Council, has been Inserted 
at page 127. ' 

In his forced retirement near the close of his life, when distressed by the 
vexatious and conflicting proceedings of tlie different State authorities, he 
is thus mentioned by Graydon, p. 2G5 : — 

" Mr. Edward Biddle, then in a declining state of health, and no longer 
in Congress, apparently entertained sentiments not accordant with the 
measures pursuing; and, in the fervid style of elocution for which he was 



892 NOTES. 

distinguished, he often exclaimed that he really knew not what to wish for. 
' The subjugation of my country,' he would say, ' I deprecate as a grievous 
calamity, and yet sicken at the idea of thirteen unconnected, petty democ- 
racies ; if we are to be independent, let us, in the name of God, at once 
have an empire, and place Washington at the head of it.' " 

In 1761 Edward Biddle married Elizabeth Ross, daughter of the Rev. 
Mr. Ross, a clergyman of the Church of England, and brother of the dis- 
tinguished George Ross. Two daughters were born of this marriage, 
Catharine, married to George Lux, of Baltimore, and Abigail, married to 
Dr. Falls, of Maryland. Neither of these left any descendants. 

See Sketch of Edward Biddle, by Craig Biddle, in vol. i. of Pennsyl- 
vania Magazine of History ; also Graydon's Memoirs. 

The following extract from the Colonial Records, vol. iv., contains a 
letter written by Edward Biddle, then a youth of seventeen, in the year 
1755, when there was an alarm occasioned by an Indian incursion about 
where the town of Womelsdorf now stands. 

"A Letter from Mr. Edward Biddle at Reading to his Father in the City. 

" il/?/ dearest Father: — I'm in so much horror and Confusion I scarce 
know what I am writing. The Drum is beating to Arms and Bells ringing 
& all the people under Arms. Within these two hours we have had differ- 
ent tho' too uncertain Accts all corroborating each other, and this moment 
is an Express arrived dispatch' d from Michael Rels' at Tulpehoccon, 18 
miles above this Town, who left about 30 of their people engaged with about 
an equal number of Indians at the s'd Reis'. This night we expect an attack, 
truly alarming is our situation. The people exclaim against the Quakers, 
& some are scarce restrained from burning the Houses of those few who are 
in This Town. Oh my Country ! My bleeding Country ! I recommend 
myself to the divine God of Armies. Give my dutiful Love to my dearest 
Mother and ray best love to brother Jemmy. 

I am, Honored Sir, Your most affectionate & obedient Son, 

E. Biddle. 

Sunday, 1 o'clock. I have rather lessened than exaggerated our Melan- 
choly Account. 

Copied from the original. 

James Biddle." 



NOTES. 393 



NOTE D. (Page 110.) 

The first commission of Nicholas Biddle runs as follows : — 
In Committee of Safety. 
To Nicholas Biddle, Esquire. 

We reposing especial trust and confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, con- 
duct and Fidelity, Do by these Presents constitute and appoint you to be 
Captain of the Provincial Armed Boat, called the Franklin fitted out for 
the protection of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Commerce of the 
River Delaware, against all hostile Enterprizes, and for the defence of 
American Liberty : you are therefore to take the said Boat into your charge, 
and carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of Captain by doing and 
performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And we do strictly 
charge and require all Officers, Soldiers and Mariners under your command 
to be obedient to your orders, as Captain. And you are to observe and 
follow such orders and directions from time to time, as you shall receivp from 
the Assembly or Provincial Convention, during their Sessions, or from this 
or a future Committee of Safety for this Province, or from your Superior 
Officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War, pursuant to the trust 
reposed in you ; this commission to continue in force until revoked by the 
Assembly or Provincial Convention, or by this or any succeeding Committee 

of Safety. 

By order of the Committee. 

B. Franklin, Presid't. 
Philadelphia, August, 1st 1775. 
Wme. Govett, Sec'ty. 

Captain Blake, who commanded the Marines on board the INIouItrle, thus 
describes the engagement in which the Randolph was blown up : — 

Dear Sir : — Agreeable to your request I would endeavor to recollect and 
state what happened during the unfortunate cruise in which the Randolph 
was blown up. I was ordered with a detachment of the 2nd South Caro- 
lina Continental Regiment, to embark on board the General Moultrie, and 
sailed in company witli the Randolph and the Briggs Notre Dame, Fair 
American and Polly, in the month of February, 1778. The object of this 
Armament was understood to be an attack on the Carysford frigate, Perseus 
twenty-gun ship, and Hinchenbrook brig of sixteen guns, who had for some 
time annoyed the trade of this place, and so completely blockaded it that 
very few vessels escaped them either bound in or out. Our little squadron 
was sometime detained in Rebellion Roads, by contrary winds, and the want 
of a full tide to carry the Randolph out ; her draft of water being eighteen 
feet. The first chance that ofi'ered we proceeded to sea and were over the 



394 N T E. s . 

bar by eight o'clock in the morning, and after discharging the pilots stood 
to the eastward without seeing any enemy. The next day we retook a dis- 
masted ship from New England, which had been taken by a small ship from 
St. Augustine, called the Lord George Germain, which having no cargo on 
board, after taking out the people with six light guns and a few stores we 
set her on fire. From this time notliing extraordinary happened till our 
arrival in tiie West Indies when we cruised to the eastward and nearly in 
the latitude of the Barbados and for several days had stopped and examined 
a number of French and Dutch vessels. The only English vessel that we 
saw, was a schooner from New York to Grenada, who mistook us for an 
English squadron, and never discovered the mistake till he spoke the Polly 
who took possession of her. 

The day this capture was made I dined on board the Randolph, when, I 
recollect, Capt. Biddle expressed himself to this effect: "We have been 
cruising here for some time and have spoken a number of vessels who will no 
doubt give information, and I should not be surprised if my old ship sbould 
be sent after us, but as to anything that mounts her guns on one deck, I 
think myself a match for her." I don't recollect her name, but understood 
her to be a 50 or CO gunship which he had formerly served on board of, 
and which was then supposed to be the only two-decker the British had in 
the West Indies. Two or perhaps three days after this, about 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon a signal was made from the Randolph for a sail to windward 
in conseipicnce of which the squadron hauled on the wind, and stood for her. 
It was near 4 o'clock before she could be seen from our quarterdeck when I 
could plainly discover through a glass that she was a ship. About 6 o'clock 
I again looked at her through the glass, and if I had not before satisfied my- 
self of her being a ship I should without hesitation have declared her to be a 
large sloop. At this time she had ncared us so much that her topsails were 
out of water and her topgallant sails being handed and she coming down 
before the wind she had the ap])earance of a large sloop with only a square- 
sail set. About 7 o'clock the Randolph, being to windward, hove to ; the 
Moultrie being then about 150 yards astern and rather to leeward also hove 
to, the Notre Dame rather astern and to leeward of us. I don't recollect the 
situation of the other brigs. About 8 o'clock the British ship fired a shot 
just ahead of us, and hailed asking what ship it was. The answe;- was, the 
Polly. " Where are you from?" Answer, from New York. She took no 
further notice of us, but immediately hauled her wind and hailed the Ran- 
dolph. At this time, and not before, we discovered her to be a two-decker. 
One or two questions being asked and answers returned as she was ranging 
up alongside of the Randolph, and had got on her weather quarter, I lieard 
Lieutenant Barnes very distinctly call out, "This is the Randolph," who 
immediately begun the action. The British ship's stern being then clear of 
the Randolph the Captain of the Moultrie gave orders to fire, and in conse- 
quence of it three broadsides were fired, the last of which I am satisfied must 
have gone into the Randolph as the enemy had shot so much ahead as to 



NOTES. 395 

bring her between us. I then mentioned -with some warmth to our Capt. 
that instead of assisting we were firing into the Randolph, in consequence of 
which we immediately made sail to get ahead and engage her on the bow, 
but before this could be eifected the Randolph blew up. The Capt. then 
came to me and said, " Capt. Blake, the Randolph is blown up, what can we 
do?" I answered that it appeared to me, we ought now to consult our own 
safety by getting away as fast as we could. The man at the wheel called out, 
"It is impossible, Sir, to get off, the ship is now aboard of us," and asked 
the Capt. if we should pull down the colors, who answered, "Yes, you may 
do what you will." I told Capt. Sullivan it was of little consequence whether 
the colors were up or not. I requested him to encourage the people to make 
sail. He then went on the main deck for that purpose. Perceiving the 
man at the wheel very much alarmed, he having repeated to me that it was 
impossible to get away, and that the enemy was then yawing to get her 
broadside to bear which would rake us fore and aft, I mentioned to the Sail- 
ing Master that unless he removed him we should probably be taken in a 
few minutes, in consequence of which he kicked him from the wheel and 
took it himself for some little time. 

I am extremely sorry that I have mislaid Davis's statement which you 
furnished me with as it may have brought something to my recollfection 
which I have forgot, but believe I have mentioned every material occuiTcnce, 
but not being a seaman it is possible I have not done it so correctly as I wish 
but am persuaded nothing of consecjuence has escaped me. I think Davis 
mentions that the Randolph spoke us and informed us that he knew the 
enemy's ship, which is untrue. I was not off the quarter deck from the time 
the signal was made until the unfortunate termination of the business, and 
declare unequivocally that we never during that time spoke to each other. 

I a»i with regard, Dear Sir, 
^ yours truly, 

J. Blakp:. 

Charleston, 7th Oct. 1804. 

To TnoMAS Hall, Esq. 

The following verses by Freneau are typical of the style of eulogium then 
prevalent in England and America on occasion of military or naval battles. 

ON THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE, 

COMMANDER OF THE RANDOLPH FRIGATE, 

Blown up near Barl)adoe.s — 1778. 

What distant thunders rend the skies, 
What clouds of smoke in volumes rise, 

What means this dreadful roar ! 
Is from his base Vcs^ivIks thrown. 
Is sky-topt Atlas tumbled down, 

Or Etna's self no more? 



396 NOTES. 

Shock after shock torments my ear ; 
And lo ! two hostile ships appear, 

Red lightnings round thehi glow : 
The Yarmouth boasts of sixty-four, 
The Randolph thirty-two — no more — 

And will she fight this foe ? 

The Randolph soon on Stygian streams 
Shall coast along the land of dreams, 

The islands of the dead ! 
But fate, that parts them on the deep, 
Shall save the Briton, still to weep 

His ancient honours fled. 

Say, who commands that dismal blaze, 
Where yonder starry streamer plays ; 

Does Mars with Jove engage? 
'Tis BiDDLE wings those angry fires, 
BiDDLE, whose bosom Jove inspires 

With more than mortal rage. 

Tremendous flash ! — and hark, the ball 
Drives through old Yarmouth, flames and all 

Her bravest sons expire ; 
Did Mars himself approach so nigh. 
Even Mars, without disgrace, might fly 

The Randolph's fiercer fire. 

The Briton views his mangled crew, 
" And shall we strike to thirty-two, 

(Said Hector, stain'd with gore) 
" Shall Britain's flag to these descend ? 
" Rise, and the glorious conflict end, 

" Britons, I ask no more !" 

He spoke — they charg'd their cannon round, 
Again the vaulted heavens resound. 

The Randolph bore it all, 
Then fix'd her pointed cannons true — 
Away the unwieldly vengeance flew ; 

Britain, thy warriors fall. 

The Yarmouth saw, with dire dismay, 
Her wounded hull, shrouds shot away, 

Her boldest heroes dead — 
She saw amidst her floating slain 
The conquering Ra^idolph stem the main — 

She saw, she turn'd, and fled ! . 

That hour, blest chief, had she been thine. 
Dear Blddle, had the powers divine 

Been kind as thou wert brave ; 
But fate, who doom'd thee to expire, 
Prepar'd an arrow tipt with fire, 

And mark'd a wat'ry grave, 



NOTES. 397 



And in that hour when conquest came 
Wiug'd at his ship a pointed flame 

That not even he could shun — 
The conquest ceas'd, the Yarmouth fled, 
The bursting Randolph ruin spread, 

And lost what honour won. 



NOTE E. (Page 286.) 

James Blddle, son of Charles Biddle, was born on the 18th of February, 
1783. He had made considerable progress in his studies, and acquired a 
taste for literature, which he retained through life, when he left the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania to enter the navy. He and his brother Edward sailed 
as midshipmen in the President, under Commodore Truxtun, in September, 
1800, for the West Indies. Edward Biddle, a youth of great promise, died 
during the voyage. This event did not, however, abate the inclination for 
the sea of his brother James. On the reduction of the navy, in 1801, he 
was retained in the service. Early in 1802, he sailed in the Constellation, 
under Commodore Murray, for the Mediterranean, on a cruise against the 
Tripolltans. In 1803, he was transferred to the Philadelphia, Captain 
Balnbridge. On the 31st October of that year, the ship struck upon a rock, 
off" the coast of Tripoli. After every eflbrt to get her afloat had failed, and 
all resistance to the enemy's gunboats had proved unavailing, Captain Bain- 
bridge surrendered his ship, and, with his officers and crew, was subjected 
to a close and rigorous confinement. The known barbarity of the Moors, 
In their treatment of Christian captives, excited much apprehension for the 
fate of the prisoners. The family of young Biddle proposed, through Sir 
Alexander Ball, th« Governor of Malta, to effect his liberation by the pay- 
ment of a ransom ; but he jiosltlvely refused to take advantage of an arrange- 
ment by which he alone would be benefited, and declared his resolution to 
share the lot of his comrades. Their release was at last obtained through 
negotiation, by the Government of the United States, after an Imprisonment 
of twenty months. From this time he was constantly in active service ; and 
at the commencement of the war with Great Britain, he sailed from Phila- 
delphia, In the capacity of first lieutenant of the sloop-of-war AVasp, Captain 
Jacob. Jones. On the 18th October, 1812, after receiving some damage 
from a heavy gale, the Wasp fell In with six British mercihantmen, two of 
which mounted sixteen guns each, under convoy of the sloop-of-war Frolic, 
Captain VVhyngates. Captain Jones Immediately determined to attack 
them. The merchantmen sailed away, while the Frolic waited for the 
Wasp, which bore down upon her on the larboard side. The Wasp com- 
menced the action at about sixty yards distance, maintaining the weather- 
gage. The English fired with more rapidity, the Americans with more 
precision and effect. Finally, Captain Jones ran his ship athwart the 



398 NOTES. 

enemy's bow, so that the Frolic's jib-boom came in between his main and 
mizzen rigging, and two of his guns entered the bow-ports of the Frolic, 
and swept the whole length of her deck. After one broadside delivered in 
this position, the conquest was completed by boarding. Lieutenant Biddle 
led the boarders ; he and a seaman named Jack Lang were the first to gain 
a footing upon the deck of the enemy. The conflict lasted just forty-three 
minutes. In this action, there was almost a perfect equality of force, the 
Frolic's armament slightly exceeding that of the Wasp. It is cited by Sir 
Howard Douglass, in his treatise on gunnery — one of the highest British 
authorities — as a remarkable instance of American superiority in that art; 
an acknowledgment that is in strong contrast with the elaborate misrepre- 
sentations by which some English contemporary writers endeavored to 
palliate the reverses of their navy. One of the most dishonest of the works 
composed with that object, and dignified with the name of History, it is, 
perhajos, worth mentioning, was written by William James, who for some 
time exercised the calling of "veterinary surgeon" in the city of Philadel- 
phia ; but the mortality among his equine patients exposing him to Imputa- 
tions of malpractice, he returned to his native land, and devoted his skill to 
the studied depreciation of the exploits of American commanders. There 
is an exposure of some of his errors and misrepresentations in two articles, 
from the pen of Fenimore Cooper, in the Democratic Review, vol. x., A- D. 
1842; and the Edinburgh Review (vol. Ixxi., A. D. 1840) condemns his 

" bitter and persevering antipathy to our transatlantic relations 

Almost every original remark made upon them by the author bears traces 
of the unworthy feeling we have mentioned." 

Soon after the action between the Wasp and the Frolic, a British seventy- 
four, the Polctiers, fell in with them, and Captain Jones was obliged to 
surrender his ship, with her recent prize, and they were taken into Bermuda. 
The oflicers, however, were soon liberated by exchange. Lieutenant Biddle 
acquired great distinction by his conduct in this action. Among other honors 
conferred on him by his fellow-citizens and public bodies, were a sword from 
his native State, a medal from Congress, votes of thanks, etc. He was also 
immediately promoted to the rank of master-commandant, and placed in 
charge of a flotilla of gunboats, for tlie protection of the river Delawju'e, and 
soon after transferred to the command of the Hornet sloop of war, which, 
with the frigates United States and Macedonian, formed a squadron, under 
Commodore Decatur. Soon after leaving New York, they were cotejielled, 
by the presence of a superior British force, to put into the harbor of New 
London, Connecticut, where they were closely blockaded. During this 
period of inaction, what was considered as an overture from the British 
ofl[icers, led to a negotiation for a "challenge fight." Commodore Decatur 
sent Captain Biddle to Sir Thomas Hardy, the British commodore, to pro- 
pose that the two American frigates should meet two of his ships of the same 
class. It was found impossible, however, to obtain the assent of Sir Thomas 
Hardy to this proposal. Captain Biddle did, however, succeed in adjusting 



NOTES. 399 

the terms for a meeting between his own sloop of war, the Hornet, and the 
sloop-of-Avar Loup Cervler. These terms, however, did not receive the 
unqualified approval of Commodore Decatur, because they admitted, for 
the Loup Cervier, the advantage of a picked crew from the other ships of 
the British squadron. Captain Biddle instantly forwarded another proposal, 
so varied as to obviate the objections of his superior officer ; but, without 
returning any reply, the captain of the Loup Cervier put to sea, and did not 
come back again to that station. Such maritime duels are not, however, to 
be commended. The aim in public warfare should be to use advantages, 
not to neutralize them, by voluntary stipulations. There must be incident, 
too, to such encounters an unnecessary and desperate protraction, leading to 
a useless waste of life, which does not attend ordinary conllicts. That the 
usual obligations of duty are thought to be transcended, appears from the fact 
that Captain Biddle, before closing the negotiation on his own behalf, had 
deemed it proper to obtain the assent of his crew ; avowing that he con- 
sidered the national honor to be so peculiarly involved in the result of such 
a meeting, that in no possible extremity should his ship be surrendered. 
This determination is characteristic not only of the individual, but also of 
the transaction in which he was then engaged. 

There being no prospect of an abandonment of the blockade, jjnd an 
escape from it being deemed impracticable, it was ordered by the United 
States Government that the frigates should be hauled up the river and dis- 
mantled ; the charge of them in this condition being assigned to Captain 
Biddle, in the Hornet. To one of his enterprising character, nothing could 
be more irksome than the sphere of inactivity to which he had now been 
confined for nearly seventeen months. He feelingly compared it to his long 
imprisonment in Tripoli ; and urgently and constantly solicited permission 
to attempt a passage through the blockading squadron, expressing the most 
Siinguine expectation of success. At length, the permission was yielded to 
his importunity. He instantly elfected his purpose ; passing out unper- 
ceived through the British s(|uadron, on the night of the 18th November, 
1814. 

Being then ordered to join the East India squadron, he arrived the first 
at the place of rendezvous, the island of Tristan D'Acunha, on the 23d 
March, 1815. When about to cast anchor, a sail was descried to the south- 
ward. Captain Biddle immediately stood off from the land, placed himself 
upon the course of the other vessel, and waited for her. The stranger, a 
British ship of war, manceuvred very cautiously, and reserved her fire till 
within musket-shot distance. The conflict was "short, sharp, and decisive." 
Again it was the fortune of Biddle to demonstrate the superiority of American 
gunnery. It was subsequently narrated, by the British first lieutenant, that 
his captain, Dickinson, after about fifteen minutes' firing, said to him, "This 
fellow hits us every time ; we can't stand his fire ; avc must run him aboard." 
The attempt to board was, however, ineffectual. The Hornet's fire still 
told fearfully upon her antagonist, and one of the British officers called out 



400 NOTES. 

that they surrondered. Captain Biddle ceased his firing, and, standing on 
the tafi'rail, aslvcd, "Have you surrendered?" At this moment two of the 
English marines fired at him from about twelve yards' distance. A ball 
passed through his neck, and struck him down from the tafirail, but he 
refused to go below, and gave the order to wear the ship round for another 
broadside, when a general cry of surrender rose from the British ship, and 
she sti-uck her colors. She was the Penguin, a ship of the Hornet's class, 
size, and metal ; and she had been carefully fitted out to cruise for the Young 
Wasp, a vessel somewhat heavier than the Hornet. Only supei-ior discipline 
and skill could account for the fact that, in an action of twenty-two minutes, 
the Penguin's mainmast was crippled, her foremast and bowsprit shot away, 
and her hull so riddled that it was not thought advisable to send her to the 
United States, and she was therefore scuttled. On the other hand, the 
Hornet's principal damage was in the rigging, and, in a few hours, she was 
again fit for service. The British historian, Sir Archibald Alison, thus 
mentions the engagement: "On the 23d of March, long after peace had 
been signed, the Hornet met the Penguin, and a furious conflict ensued, 
both commanders being ignorant of the termination of hostilities. Both 
vessels were of equal size and weight of metal, but the American had the 
advantage in the number and composition of her crew ; and, after a despe- 
rate conflict, in the course of which the brave Captain Dickinson was slain 
in the very act of attempting to board, the British vessel surrendered, having 
lost a third of her crew, killed and wounded."* 

It was a curious coincidence that, as after the capture of the Frolic, Biddle 
soon fell in with a British seventy-four, the Cornwallis, which immediately 
gave chase to the Hornet. The pursuit was continued for three days. 
Though Captain Biddle was still much debilitated by his wound, and his 
first lieutenant (Conner) had been disabled in the late action, every exped- 
ient that nautical skill could suggest was vigorously used to increase the 
Hornet's speed; finally the anchors, boats, shot, guns, and every other 
heavy article were thrown overboard. The gigantic pursuer several times 
got near enough to open fire, but did not succeed in overtaking the Hornet. 
Fenimore Cooper says, in his Naval History, " Captain Biddle gained nearly 
as much reputation for the steadiness and skill with which he saved his ship 
on this occasion as for the fine manner in which he had fought her a few 
weeks earlier. In the promptitude with which he had continued his cruise, 
after capturing a vessel of equal force, the nation traced the spirit of the 
elder officer of the same name and family, who had rendered himself so 
conspicuous in the Revolution." 

Captain Biddle put into San Salvador on the 9th of June, 1815, and there 
heard that peace had been made witli Great Britain. 

On his return to the United States, he was promoted to the rank of Post 



* Alison's History of Europe, chap. Ixxvi. 



NOTES. 401 

Captain, and received the lienors due to his gaUantry from Congress, his 
native State, and his fellow-citizens. 

After the termination of the war he was constantly employed in the ordi- 
nary routine of naval duty, which, though arduous and important, presents 
few details of interest to the general reader. He, at three different periods, 
held commands upon the coast of South America, and displayed great ability 
and conduct in the complex relations which then existed between the United 
States and Spain and her revolted colonies. One incident, which occurred 
at Valparaiso, excited at the time considerable attention. The government 
of the United States had not yet recognized the independence of Chili, and 
therefore the authorities omitted to notice the offer of Captain BIddle to ex- 
change the usual salutes on his arrival at Valparaiso in the Ontario. The 
Chilian navy was under the command of Lord Cochrane, who had been dis- 
missed from the British service after being convicted of fraud in a conspiracy 
to affect the public funds. Captain Biddle was about weighing anchor, to 
proceed on his voyage, when Lord Cochrane desired him to submit to a de- 
tention in port until after the sailing of a secret expedition. For reasons 
■which he deemed sufficient, in view of the late omission to salute his flag, 
Captain Biddle declined to accede to this request. Immediately two ships 
of the Chilian navy slipped their cables, and took up a position to command 
the mouth of the harbor. By all on board of the Ontario it was understood 
as a menace. Biddle instantly cleared for action, and bore down upon the 
ships placed in his way. They suffered him to pass between them, and pro- 
ceed to sea without molestation. 

Among special services rendered by him, we may enumerate that, in 
1817, he took possession of Oregon Territory; in 1826, he signed a com- 
mercial treaty with Turkey ; from 1838 to 1842, he held the post of Gover- 
nor of the Naval Asylum, at Philadelphia; in 1845, while in command of a 
squadron in the East Lidies, he exchanged the ratifications of the; first treaty 
with China, and acled as United States Commissioner to that country ; he 
also touched at Japan, and made an earnest effort to conciliate, by kindness 
and forbearance, its singular and exclusive people. From Japan he sailed 
to California, and took command of the United States naval force in the 
Pacific Ocean, then engaged in prosecuting the war against Mexico. Im- 
mediately on his arrival at this station, his nice appreciation of belligerent 
rights was exhibited, by the revocation of a general blockade of the west 
coast of Mexico, which had been declared by his predecessor, and the sub- 
stitution of a blockade of special ports, maintained by the presence of a 
competent force. It is in conformity with this practice that a European 
congress has since abolished "paper-blockades," and adopted the American 
principle upon this subject. 

He reached home in the month of March, 1848, worn with the toils of 
long and faitiiful service, and, on the 1st of October following, died at 
Philadelphia, aged sixty-five years. He had never sought repose in ex- 
26 



402 NOTES. 

emption from duty, and, with unremitting zeal, his whole life was devoted 
to his country. 

Commodore Biddle was a well-read scholar, thoroughly conversant with 
general literature, international and military law, the practice of courts-mar- 
tial, and the usages of the naval service. No man was more exemplary in 
all the private relations of life. He never married, and the affection of his 
warm and generous nature was bestowed upon a large circle of relatives and 
friends. His manners were marked by scrupulous refinement and delicacy. 
He was slight in person, and it was by the force of an indomitable spirit 
that he surmounted hardships and difficulties. His temperament was quick 
and impulsive, but controlled by a strong sense of justice, and a careful re- 
gard for the rights of others. Rigid in all the essentials of discipline, -he 
had none of the exacting spirit that vents itself in minute and harassing 
attention to insignificant details, His character commanded the respect, 
and won the aflection of his officers and his crew. Few men have more 
completely fulfilled the duties of their station in life ; and he may be Avith 
truth cited as one of the best examples of the American naval officer. — 
Simpson's Eminent Philadelphians. 



NOTE F. (Pages 305 and 318.) 

In Davis's Life of Burr will be found a number of letters to and from 
Charles Biddle. In a letter to his son-in-law Joseph Alston, written the day 
before his duel with Hamilton, Burr says : — 

" My very worthy friend, Charles Biddle of Philadelphia, has six or seven 
sons, three of them grown up. With dltfei'ent characters, and various degrees 
of intelligence, they will all be men of eminence and of influence. Call 
to see the father as you pass tin-ough Philadelphia, and receive the sons 
kindly." 

The letters which are here given relating to the duel have never been in 
print. Tlie first, upon another subject, will serve to show Burr's high sense 
of public duty. 

With regard to the duel, Mr. Parton, the fairest of Burr's biographers, 
says: " Gates, De Witt Clinton, Randolph, Benton, Clay, Jacksqn, De- 
catur, Arnold, Walpole, Pitt, AVellington, Canning, Peel, Grattan, Fox, 
Sheridan, Jeffrey, Wilkes, D' Israeli, Lamartine, Thiers, and scores of less 
famous names are found in Mr. Sabine's list of duelists.* In all that curious 
catalogue there is not the name of one politician who received provocation 
so often repeated, so irritating, and so injurious as that which Aaron Burr 
had received from Alexander Hamilton." 

; 

* Sabine's Notes on Duels and Duelline:. 



NOTES. 403 

In point of fact, there was among gentlemen at that day practically no 
aversion to duelling, nor was General Hamilton himself ever known to be 
opposed to the practice until he so declared in the few last days of his life. 
He had acted as second to Colonel Laurens in his duel with General Lee, and 
had earnestly invited a challenge from Mr. Monroe in 1797. Li that dispute 
Burr acted as the friend of Monroe, who, doubtless with his concurrence, 
honorably declined being drawn into a duel. The outcry against Burr in 
New York on this occasion was owing almost wholly to political hostility. 
The Federalist hate of Burr was of course intensified by the result of the 
duel, whilst the rage of the Clintonian wing of the Democracy against the 
man who stood in no fear of their whole aristocratic array was jjerfectly 
frantic. 

The effect of General Hamilton's death in bringing disci-edit upon this 
mode of settling disputes has been greatly exaggerated. Certainly, among 
military, and we speak with confidence in saying, especially among naval 
men, for at least thirty-five years after Burr's duel it would have been 
deemed an act of poltroonery to refuse a challenge, unless the challenger by 
some gross misconduct had clearly forfeited his right to be recognized as a 
man of honor. 

As late as the year 1838 a fatal duel between two members of Cbngress 
was witnessed by half a dozen fellow members and at least one senator. 

After Hamilton's death there was a curious difference of opinion between 
the two seconds, as to whether Hamilton had fired at his adversary ; Mr. 
Pendleton, his friend, asserting that he had not. Mr. Van Ness and Colonel 
Burr were of the contrary opinion, and Burr's letter to Charles Biddle of 
July 18th, one week after the duel, is important evidence. Hamilton, 
strange to say, was under the impression — his mind probably affected already 
by physical pain — that he had not fired at all. Some foolish friends after- 
w.ards pretended to have discovered the precise twig of a tree high in 
air, which had been severed by Hamilton's ball. Great stress, also, has 
been laid upon his declaration before the duel that he did not intend to fire 
at Burr. But he had a perfect right to change his intention at the last 
moment, being under no pledge whatever to any one as to his course of con- 
duct. This is what actually occurred in 1826, in the famous duel between 
Clay and Randolph, where the latter changed his mind on the ground and 
fired one shot at Mr. Clay. 

After Burr's duel he came to Charles Biddle's house in Philadelphia, and 
was received and welcomed by one of the sons, then a youth, the rest of the 
family being out of town. It is believed that he remained there until he 
saih'd for the South. 

Washington, 15th Mar. 1802. 
My Dear Sir: Your letter of the 13th. is rec'd this Evening. I left you 
a Case and desired you to put into it one of the Medals. Again I beg you to 
accept it. But what has become of all the Copper ones ? I should like a 
great number of them — and the acct. not yet sent. 



404 NOTES. 

It must not be mentioned abroad but between you & me I suspect Trux- 
tun ■will not ^o out with the Squadron. It is more probable that you may 
see him in Phila. in the course of a fortnight : I will write to the officer 
who may succeed to the command (say Morris) recommending James. 

The letter of Murrray which you enclosed to me was immediately put 
into the hands of the Sec'y — and I hope will have the effect desired. You 
need never have the least hesitation about Avriting to me in favor of any one 
in whom (begun the wrong side of the sheet, but can't copy) you take an 
interest. We understand each other so well that your recommendations 
can never embarrass me, because if the thing you desire should, for some rea- 
son unknown to you, be impracticable or inexpedient, I can frankl}^ say so. 
On the other hand I should be quite mortified if anything Avhich you wished 
should not be attended to merely because you had from motives of delicacy 
refrained from writing to me. This must not be. 

I have a long letter of four very closely written pages from Wilkinson. 
Unfortunately for want of a document left at N. Y. I can't read one line of 
it, nor even conjecture what it is about. It is dated in Feb. when I presume 
he was well. 

God bless you 

A. Burr. 

Ch. Biddle Esqr. 

18 July, 1804. 
3fy Bear Sir : Your letter of the 1 3th was particularly acceptable. It is 
too well known that Gen' I H. had long indulged himself in illiberal freedom? 
with my character. He had a peculiar talent of saying things improper & 
offensive in such a manner as could not well be taken hold of. On two dif- 
ferent occasions however, having reason to apprehend that he had gone so 
far as to afford me a fair occasion for calling on him, he anticipated me by 
coming forward voluntarily and making apologies and concessions. From 
delicacy to him and from a sincere desire for peace, I have never mentioned 
these circumstances always hoping that the generosity of my conduct would 
have had some influence on his. In this I have been constantly deceived, 
and it became impossible that I could consistently with self-respect again 
forbear. With regard to the immediate cause of the late event, I refer you to 
the Morning Chronicle of the 1 7th inst. though in this, many circumstances 
not favorable to II. are suppressed. The following incidents will show what 
reliance may be placed on those declarations of H. wliich assert that he did 
not mean to injure me &c. &c. (contemptible disclosures, if true,). When the 
parties had taken their places, having their pistols in their hands, cocked, 
Mr. P. who was to give the word, asked the gentlemen if they were ready : 
" Stop," said Gen'l IL, " in certain states of the light one recjuires glasses." 
He then levelled his pistol in different directions to try the light. After this, 
he put on his spectacles and repeated the same experiment several times ; he 
kept on his spectacles and said he was ready. When the word " present" 
was given, he took aim at his adversary & fired very promptly. The other 



NOTES. 405 

fired two or three seconds after him & the Gen'l instantly fell exclaiming 
" I am a dead man." Both he & Mr. P. while on the ground, appeared a 
good deal agitated and not to be in a state of mind suitable for observing with 
accuracy what passed. H. looked as if oppressed with the horrors of con- 
scious guilt. It is the opinion of all considerate men here, that my only fault 
has been in bearing so much & so long. 

You will remark that all our intemperate and unprincipled Jacobins who 
have been for years reviling H. as a disgrace to the country and a pest to 
society are now the most vehement in his praise, and you will readily per- 
ceive that their motive is, not respect to him, but malice to me. 

The last hours of Genl. H. (I might include the day preceding the inter- 
view) appear to have been devoted to malevolence and hypocrisy. All men 
of honor must see with disgust the persecutions which are practised against 
me. Among other unusual steps, a Coroner's Jury has been called and will 
meet for the fourth time this evening. The object is to procure an mquest 
of murder, which will probably be effected, although the transaction took 
place in another State. Upon such an inquest a warrant may issue to appre- 
hend me and if I should be taken, bail would probably be refused. The 
friends of Genl. H. and even his enemies, who are still more my enemies, 
are but too faithful executors of his malice". , 

Respectfully & affectionately Y'rs. 

Ch. Biddle, Esqr. A. Burr. 

18th July, 1804. 

My Dear Sir : It is not yet determined how I shall dispose of myself for 
the residue of the Summer, perhaps I may visit your city on my way, God 
knows whither. In such case I may probably enough ask a room in your 
house in town for two or three days. 

A late event has so demolished all my projects that the Chariot Hanse 
has made will be useless to me. You can judge what chance I should have 
in our Courts on a trial for my life, though there is nothing clearer to a dis- 
passionate lawyer than that the Courts of this State have nothing to do with 
the death of Genl. H. 

Your son Charles to whom I am indebted for a very civil letter about this 
same Carriage, must call on Hanse & know by what means he has charged 
more than 200 Dls. above the price agreed. " A chariot complete" I thought 
included every thing usual. He now charges separately for Lamps, Cover, 
&c. &c. Desire him to ask Mr. H. at what loss he will keep it. It is per- 
haps unlucky that I have jiaid him in advance (I think) 175 Dls. I hope 
he won't have the conscience to ask so much. 1 shall be within reach of the 
Post ofhce in N. York long enough to receive your answer to this. 

I had written a letter to Armstrong concerning Nicholas, but kept it, not 
knowing where to address him & expecting him daily in N. York. 

Your most affec. friend & st. 

A. B. 

Do not let the enclosed letter go out of your hands. 
Ch. Biddle, Esqr. 



406 NOTES. 



Commodore Truxtun to Charles Biddle. 

EXTUACT. 

Perth Ambot, 19tli July, 1804. 
Dear Sir : I lament the Death of Hamilton as much as I could the death 
of a brother of equal talents and worth to human society, but I must at the 
same time justify Burr, and will everywhere justify him on Hamilton's own 
confession, inclosed with his will and addressed to his executors. " It is not 
to be denied that my animadversions on the political principles, character, 
and views of Col. Burr have been extremely severe, and on different occa- 
sions, I in common with many others have made very unfavorable criticisms 
on particular instances of the private conduct of this gentleman." If the 
laws of honor in any case between man and man will justify the practice of 
duelling (and there are some cases in which I think a devout Bishop would 
almost countenance it*) surely the ground of Burr's correspondence with 
Hamilton must be admitted as one of those cases, and if men and soldiers 
once go to the field there ought to be no trifling, and this I should be grati- 
fied in having an opportunity of showing Robert Smith, (the apology for a 
Secretary of the Navy) but he shelters himself behind the embrasures of his 
office where he will lie skulking until he is pop'd into another skulking place 
still more secure — the seat of Judge Chase. 

New York, 26th July, 1804. 
Dear Sir : There is the devil to pay in this city about the late duel, and 
I am abused as being a friend of Col. Burr though I have ever been a sincere 
friend to the deceased. I never knew a business of this kind so treated in 
any part of the world, the inquest have not yet given in their verdict — they 
remain as before 9-3 as I understand from good authority, at least as I think 
good authority. I regret the event as much as any man can do of this 
unfortunate duel, but as it cannot now be helped, as Hamilton cannot be 
brought back — & as there is no doubt but the duel was a fair one according 
to the laws in such cases — why this abominable persecution ? I detest and 
despise it. Mr. Prevost is of opinion that it woidd be extremely wrong for 
Col. Burr to venture in Jersey in the present state of things, and from what 
I hear otherwise I am clearly of the same opinion. Mr. P. thinks also that 
if he goes to Carolina for two or three months it will be the best thing that he 
can do, and by that time the public mind now much agitated will have sub- 
sided or become quieted in a great degree. Your mention of any corres- 
pondence between Col. Burr & myself and yourself can do neither him or us 
any good ; it is best to be silent about it. Just do you & him write to me as 



* The Commodore's views of the license allowable to the clergy were some- 
times startling to his friends. 



NOTES. 407 

usual at Amboy where I sliall be to-morrow — being here on the subject of 
employing in a speculation some money, for I am sick & tired of Idleness. 
Show this to Col. Burr. 

Your friend, 

Thomas Truxtun. 
CuARLF.s BiDDLE, Esqr. 

Cpmmodore Truxtun to Charles Biddle. 
Extract. 

Perth Aiibot, 11th Aug. 1804. 
I cannot believe it is intended to give Burr any trouble, out of New York, 
but of Mr. Jefferson's political Myrmidons in that State he can form a much 
better opinion than I can, and of the object and intentions of the two fami- 
lies* under mourning for General Hamilton outwardly and rejoicing inwardly. 
God forgive me if I judge of any man wrongfully but the conduct of these 
men past and present when contrasted looks like bare faced hypocrisy and 
shows a duplicity which insults the common understanding of mankind. 

St. Simons, 1st Sept. 1804. 

My Dear Sir : It is now just a week since our arrival. The passage 
from Newcastle to this Island was 13 days, but we were two days getting in. 
The Capt. was civil and obliging. 

On Tuesday the 4th. iust. I go to St. Mary's and thence to St. Augustine 
if I can find a conveyance. Travelling in this region is done by Avater only. 
My furtlier projects are, to return to tliis place before the 20'th. then through 
Savannah and Augusta to Columbia, Camden and Statesburg, at which 
last place my daughter now is. I wish that you would immediately on 
receijit of this address a letter to me at Statesburg, South Carolina. Tell 
me what you may^hear of the state of things in New York and enclose me 
a few Newspapers. I propose to leave Statesburg on my return homeward 
the first week in October ; you will therefore have no time to spare for 
writing. 

In this neighborhood I am overwlielmed with all sorts of attention and 
kindness. Presents are daily sent of things which it is supposed I may want, 
so that 1 live most luxuriously. 

Your affectionate friend and scrv't 

A. BUKR. 

CuAs. Biddle. 

The following letters refer to the period when Colonel Biu-r was tried and 
acquitted on charges of treason and of misdemeanor. In Wilkinson's letter 
we have italicized what seems important. 



* Probably meant for the Livingstoufes and Clintons. 



408 NOTES. 

Waphingtox, March 18th, '05. 

My Dear Sir : I have just received your favour of the 13th, & hasten 
to answer it. Nicholas is perfectly correct in his observations, on the effect 
of ]\Iilitary standing in France, and I have every disposition to forward his 
views, but the absence of the President from the Seat of Government, & 
the extreme caution with which the Secretary of War proceeds in all things, 
may render their accomplishment impracticable. I will however make the 
attempt to-morrow & shall apprize you of the result thfi day after — if we 
proceed at all it must be in the Corps du Genie, which by the bye is held 
in first respectability in France & furnishes the richest uniform of our Service. 

I thank you for your congratulations & shall be able to tell you more of 
my Government 12 Months hence. In the mean time I can only say the 
Country is a healthy one, ^' that I shall be on the high road to Mexico. 

Our friend Burr leaves this for Philadelphia to-morrow, from ivhence he 
proceeds Westward ^ we may expect to find him in New Orleans in June. 
The President has thought proper to appoint Dr. Brown, on the sole recom- 
mendation of Mr. Burr, to the Secretaryship of the Territory of Louisi- 
ana. 

Commodore Preble, with whom I am charmed, will leave this to-morrow 
& will carry you a Letter of Introduction. He is truly a Man formed to 
Command & should be at the Head of our Navy. You will find him modest 
yet collected, intelligent, correct & possessing manners the most agreeable. 
My Ann's health is improving, & I liope the season will confirm it. She 
and our Sons join me in aflectionate regards to Mrs. B. th)'self & Children. 
Your Affectionate Friend & Servt. 

Jas. Wilkinson. 

Chas. Biddle, Esq. 

Lexington, 27 Augt. '05. 

My Dear Sir: Who would have thought that Naval Talents were in 
such estimation at 600 miles from salt water? The enclosed I took from 
tRe door of the hotel in Nashville (Teimessee). General Jackson who is 
the owner of this celebrated quadruped, is one of the most distinguished 
men in that State. He says that as the Commodore stands unrivalled at 
sea, so is the horse Truxtun on land, and that if he should ever be beaten, 
he will change his name. 

I have been amusing myself here these eight days and think of going 
hence to see Wilkinson. This would be the business of a month & would 
keep me on this side the Mountains till after the middle of October. Of 
my very long and interesting tour you shall have an account when we 
meet. My health has been uniformlj' good, very good. 

Most aiiec'y Y^'rs. 

A. Burr. 



NOTES. 409 

Richmond, ISth Ap. 1807. 

Dear Sir : On the 13th inst. 1 received a letter from Commodore Truxtun 
dated SOth March, to whicli lie desires an answer by return of mail. It has 
no postmark and I am totally ignorant of the channel throuyjh which it came. 

The Commodore desires me to declare whether I wrote to Genl. W. that 
he (Truxtun) had gone on a Mission from me to Jamaica. 

It is obvious that as well this letter as the reply which I might make to it 
ai-e intended for publication, and to this, at a proper time, there could be no 
exception. It is admitted also that he has a right to make the enquiry and 
to expect an answer. But as the deposition of Genl. Wilkinson is very soon 
to be the subject of legal investigation, there would be a manifest imjiro- 
priety in perniitting any declarations or remarks to escape from me anterior 
to that examination, and such conduct might expose me to veiy serious in- 
convenience and injury in a matter which touches my honour. I have there- 
fore to request that the Commodore will forbear to press his demand until 
the termination of the business now depending in this city, and I pledge 
myself to give him full satisfaction on the subject so soon as the trial shall 
be concluded. As this event cannot be more than five or six weeks distant, 
it is hoped that he will see the propriety of accjuiescing in the delay. 

It is with great hesitation that I ask you to communicate the prece(ling to 
Commodore Truxtun ; but I presume that the peculiar circumstances In 
winch I am placed will excuse the freedom. To have written even thus 
much directly to the Commodore, might, if made public, have defeated the 
views with which the delay is desired & have exposed me to the evils sought 
to be avoided, which will also apologize to him for this mode of communi- 
cation. Yours Affectionately, 

A. Burr. 

Ch. Biddle, Esqr. 

Qominodore Truxtun to Charles Biddle. 

(Extract.) 

Richmond, SOth May, 1807. 

^ly Dear Sir : Richmond I am delighted with and from the Governour 
down, thi'oughout the Society of " Worthies," of all politics, I have been at 
home and had welcome shown me in every house, most conspicuously. I 
dine every day at 1-2 past 4, rise at 8 from dinner and am at an evening 
part)' at 1-2 past 8, and in bed at 12 — up at G — go to Court at 10, adjourn at 
3. Tills is very well you will say, but I wish the business that caused the 
unpleasant errand, was over and persecution at an end; Burr sticks to it, 
that he never wrote the cyphered letter,* or caused It to be written or men- 
tioned my name, as It has been therein mentioned, but on the contrary, that 
I declined his overtures at once, which Is the fact & tho' I have not yet seen 
him but In Court, he has done ample justice to me as I had early required, and 
confirmed the message you delivered me from him in Phila. of his innocence 
in not mentioning my name. 



* What Col. Burrdenied was the correctness of Wilkinson's version of tlie letter. 



410 NOTES. 

Richmond, 25th June, 1807. 

Dear Sir : I have postponed writing to you for some time as I have 
nothing important to say, the newspapers having detailed everything here 
that I know relating to the trial of Col. Burr, who is now in close prison, in 
consequence of the Grand Jury having yesterday found and brought into 
Court a True Bill against him for Treason and another True Bill for a ]Mis- 
demeanour, and also the like bills against Mr. Blennerhasset. 

The witnesses on the part of the United States were .51 in number, mostly 
from the Westward and New Orleans, and it is said that there has been some 
hard swearing, but of this I give report only. No witness on the part of 
the accused has been yet examined and of course all opinion ought to be 
suspended until we see their evidence before the Court and petit Jury, and 
especially as I am told some of them are men of great respectability from 
the Ohio and its neighbourhood, who speak loudly against Gen. Wilkinson. 

The Cyphered Letter was not lost as had been mentioned at Washington, 
but obtained from W. by the Grand Jury, and is a very diiferent thing, it 
is said to his interpretation to the Government. It acknowledges receipt of 
a letter from Col. Burr with postmark of 13th. of May. You recollect that 
it was stated that the Cyphered Letter was written in July 1806. And I 
am told it saj-s " Our affairs are going on better than I could wish" or iiiords 
to that effect, and it states other matters in the plural number, but I trust 
the public will see that letter at full length In proper time, when all will be 
able to judge more correctly of its contents and the case. 

The affair with the English and American National Ships off the Chesa- 
peake, renders war inevitable or pusillanimity the order of the day. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Thomas Truxtun. 
To Charles Biddle, Esq. 

(Turn over.) 

What is on this side is of a private nature. 

The letter containing my papers may or may not have been opened at the 
Post Ofhce, but whether or not, my papers were all received and not detained, 
and hence you were premature in writing to Patton. 

I have not spoken to Wilkinson. I cannot countenance such conduct as 
I have seen in his operations. But more of this hereafter. I will write 
you fully on this subject In proper time or when more at leisure. 

T. T. 

P. S. Let my family want for nothing in my absence and wi'Ite me of 
them &c. &c. &c. I know not how long we will be detained here, there 
will be various presentments to-day, after which, the Grand Jury close their 
Session. 

When you receive this, call on the Mai-quis and tell him that some wit- 
nesses have been produced, as I understand, which have slandered him, but 
what their evidence Is, I know not — except that he had engaged to supply 



NOTES. 411 

Bnrr with arms and money, as it is reported out of doors. Now as I am 
of opinion that the Marquis had no sort of connection with Burr, but on the 
contrary watched him, I am obliged to say hero I am persuaded it is all a lie. 
The Jamaica story and my name is proved a lie by the answers of the 
Governor and Admiral from Jamaica to Wilkinson's letters. I demanded 
in a letter to the Grand Jury these answers, knowing it was an infamous 
invention, and it has turned out that W. had no data to go by but the 
cyphered letter, and a vessel he says arrived at New Orleans and mentioned 
it. What a tale ! And I know nothing of such infamous proceedings, I do 
assure you. 

T. T. 

Philadelphia, lltli July, 1807. 
Charles Biddle, Esquire. 

Dear Sir : The letter you have received from General Wilkinson com- 
plaining of my refusing to speak to him, and that he would have explained 
to my satisfaction his conduct, as respected me, had I given him opportunity, 
I am surprised was ever written. For how could W. attempt to explain to 
my satisfaction his abominable conduct as respected me. 

Without my going into the designs of Col. Burr, in which he declared to 
me that Wilkinson was the projector, and told you he would nevtfr have 
thought of such designs but for the importunities of Wilkinson — and with- 
out even touching the subject of the cyphered letter which was decyphered 
by Wilkinson (by a key established between them since 1801, as W. acknow- 
ledged before the Grand Jury) and sent to the President of the United 
States with false and infamous allusions to me. 

I say, Sir, Avithout my going into the subject of Mr. Burr's designs and 
that letter and the circumstances connected with both, of which so much 
may be most grievously said by me, let me call to your attention a very 
offensive and additional fact. About five months after the foolish and ridicu- 
lous cyphere<l letter was written, which Col. Burr solemnly denies to you 
ever to have written — has denied also to General Lee— to me and to others, 
and that he never caused to be written : and when froni the intercourse 
between New Orleans and Philada. it might on inquiry have been easily 
ascertained — that I was not only at that time in this city — but had not been 
out of the United States since the peace with France in 1801 : I say, Sir, 
that notwithstanding these incontrovertible facts, General Wilkinson pre- 
maturely dispatched a vessel (see copy of ray letter to the Richmond Grand 
Jury) from the former place at the nation's expense to Jamaica, warning 
the Governor, Sir Eyre Coote, and Admiral Dacres against giving inc any aid, 
&c. &c. &c., in an expedition from thence to co-operate with Col. Burr (at 
least such was the purport of the dispatch). 

These high and honorable ofRcers were astonished, as they well might be, 
at such dispatches being directed to them, particularly from such a quarter, 
and replied to Wilkinson accordingly that they had never before heard of 
such expedition. Now, Sir, let me ask of you whether this undertaking in 



412 NOTES. 

General W to send an express of such a nature, of himself (and 

unauthorized by the Executive of the U. S.), to a foreign Government and 
Admiral on that occasion, was not only stretching his powers a great length 
but was premature. And as it respected me, and the exposure of my name 
to a distant Government and people, was it not cruel in the last degree — 
more especially as Wilkinson has known me in tlie character and walks of a 
man of lienor for tliirty years ? 

But I Avill not stop here ; injury most poignantly felt forbids it. 

After tliisact was done and could not be recalled, and after Wilkinson had 
discovered that I had not left the United States on any sort of mission or 
business whatever for years — and after he had received answers to his letters 
from Sir Eyre Coote and Admiral Dacres — was it not due to me, was it not 
due to a sense of justice and to common decency for him to have made some 
explanation and apology, unasked by me, for this extraordinary conduct ? 
Was it not due from a man with whom I have long been in habits of appa- 
rent and sincere friendship, by his own expressions — and was it not due 
from a man who had so often before and since this transaction expressed 
such affection and esteem for me (and who once, as he told me himself, gave 
an entertainment at Natchez in honor of my conduct) to have written me 
then an explanatory letter? Ought I not to have expected it and looked 
for it from this statement of facts — ought I not to have expected that AVil- 
kinson, tlie boasted patriot and friend, would have hastened to have told me 
from New Orleans, in the plain and honest language of friendship, that he 
rejoiced to find he had (as respected me) been most egregiously mistaken or 
deceived in prostrating my name? But no such thing — no sort of com- 
punction for profaning Truxtun — but on the contrary a total silence and 
indifference until he meets me at a large dinner party at Richmond, and 
then advances under this load of aggression to me for the purpose of renew- 
ing social intercourse and affects to be hurt because it is refused. But away, 
Wilkinson ! while I tell you, the door is forever shut between us, until you 
verify your good disposition toward me differently and convince me that you 
are pure and unspotted in your accusations against Burr. As resjicets the 
famous cyphered letter — there is assertion against assertion — Burr assured 
me, yourself and many others, that he was not the author of that letter — 
and Wilkinson says he is, as I am told. And as to the Jamaica project, 
Swartwout declares and swears most bitterly at and against Wilkinson, and 
that he never said to him a single syllable about me, or such project. And 
how could he, for I never saw Mr. Swartwout to my knowledge until I saw 
him at Richmond, and in the first moment I declined Mr. Burr's proposal 
to me, agreeable to my affidavit. But again, Dr. BoUman says that Wilkin- 
son was the first man he ever heard make any mention of my going to 
Jamaica and that it was at New Orleans he so heard it. Thus you see how 
the account stands among them, and they may settle it in their own way ; I 
have labored and done my part, and my duty to my honor and my family 
by an inquiry, and by addressing a letter to Col. Burr on the subject, and 



NOTES. 413 

receiving his flat denial in the affair, and by hearing evidence and conversa- 
tions detailed, ^'uy I have gone farther — I I'equested Mr. Stoddert to have 
from Dr. Bollman's own mouth, what I assert, wliieh he did obtain, to sat- 
isfy me, in consequence of my calling on him (Bollman) at Richmond, to 
explain to me how this affair was. 

As to Col. Burr — although he denied everything in which his name had 
been mentioned as concerned me, yet I had no intercourse with him at Rich- 
mond, until after I had given in my affidavit before the Grand Jury, and 
after the bills of indictment were found against him to be true bills. I then 
felt compassion for his degraded situation and recollecting liis former stand- 
ing in society, and as he had previously denied ever having mentioned me, 
as had been disgracefully stated, I called on him once at his desire and 
received from him a letter for you (on the subject of money matters I sup- 
pose) which I delivered you on my arrival from Richmond. I called at tlie 
same house twice, to see Mr. Martin, who had visited me at Major Gibbon's 
and thus I Avas thrice at the house Mr. Burr occupied at Richmond while I 
was in that city. Let the rancorous and miserable and inhuman wretclies, 
that would insinuate otherwise, blusli and be ashamed, for I disregard them 
in this world, more than tlie dirt under my feet — as they will answer for 
their misdeeds in the world to come. < 

I have been induced to write this letter to justify myself, as to keeping 
General Wilkinson aloof — and to convince you that 1 never saw an old friend 
with a new face without a just cause. 

As to any dissatisfaction of Wilkinson, or anything he may say in conse- 
quence of ray sense of his wrongs, I disregard it. The fact is, it is me that 
feels cause of complaint — and have great cause — not him. And while 1 do 
not desire to offend society by any improper conduct from reports tliat I 
pass Wilkinson without a just cause, I shall take some pains to prevent any 
sort of misrepresentation from any quarter in this affair — and this you may 
inform him, when you exhibit this letter for his perusal. I am the guardian 
of my own reputation, and will forever defend it at all hazards. And if I 
know my country and my country justly knows me, as I trust it does (not- 
withstanding a variety of evils I have experienced as well as Wilkinson's 
late conduct, which has had a tendency to do me infinite injury — but from 
my own vigilance and attention to do myself justice have defeated it), it 
is all I desire, with a few select and sincere friends, to pass my unemployed 
hours away. 

I am not, my worthy friend Charles, anxious for very many associates — my 
injured estate and large family forbid it — I only desire those I select to be 
honorable and prove honorable in all situations in life — and I wisli to know 
no man that is not a real and true patriot and who does not in sincerity love 
his country, next to his God, above all other things. 

Having forever been unconnected with any sort of plot, I write as I feel, 
and carry the flag of defiance at the main against my ungrateful enemies. 

I do not hesitate to say that I am not bloody minded, it Is Incompatible 



414 ' NOTES. 

■with a true soldier to be so — lience I have charity, some charity for Burr in 
his present situation, but as I have said to you before, I never can a<Tain 
hold Mr. Burr in the estimation I once did or ever make a companion of 
him — yet I am no savage or barbarian to let Burr feel my determination in 
his present state, and as to money he has no claim on me for any and I have 
none for him. As to security (if he is cleared by a traverse Jury) in the 
suits mstituted against him at Richmond on his protested bills, I cannot be 
be one of them, or guarantee any persons there who would. My time of life 
and large family forbid my involving or hazarding for such an acquaintance 
as Mr. Burr has been ; and recent conduct too puts it out of the question 
with me — but you can do as you please. 

1 find young Decatur — in his affidavit before the Grand Jury, detailing 
Mr. Burr's overtures to him — says that in December, 1805, Col. Burr told 
him that the Government were acquainted with his views and that General 
Wilkinson liad offered his services, &c., and that Wilkinson knew more about 
the resources than he did. Now this differs from what Burr told me in some 
respects, for Mr. Burr declared to me that the Executive was not privy. 
But it seems that Decatur never gave the Government any information as to 
the overtures of Mr. Burr to him, untill subpoenaed as a witness — though be- 
fore the Grand Jury oath was made by Wilkinson that he was to go to New 
Providence after a fleet and join me from Jamaica. What fabrications ! 

Yours, 

Thomas Truxtun. 

At Burr's trial Commodore Truxtun testified, " I know nothing respect- 
ing any overt act or of any treasonable practice, design, or conversation of 
Colonel Burr." 

Being asked by Burr, " Did I ever speak of dismembering the Union by 
separating the Western country or of seizing New Orleans?" He replied, 
" Never, and I have spoken it a thousand times." .... " I would have 
got out of my bed at 12 o'clock at night, if my services were wanted against 
England, France, or Spain, at any time." 

The following exti-act from a letter written several years after the so-called 
conspiracy shows the later I'riendly relations of Truxtun and Burr. 

Commodore Truxtun to Charles Biddle. 

Wood Lawn, August 22, 1812. 
You say Colonel Burr has much business in New York and doing well. 
I am glad to hear it, and should rejoice to hear he had exposed that incom- 
parable villain Jefferson, as I dare say he can do, and nothing should prevent 
it after his sufferings. I say incomparable with the exception of INIadison 

and Bonaparte, and those of the Junta If any friend is going to 

New York enclose this to Colonel Burr as a mark of my esteem, and having 
no opportunity to write him from here, or I would do so, tliough I liave no 
subject for a letter. 



NOTES. 415 



NOTE G. (Page 306.) 

Nicholas Biddle was born on the 8th of January, 1786, at Philadelphia. 
At the age of thirteen, he had completed the course of study at the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania ; he then entered Princeton College, where he took his 
degree in his fifteenth year, dividing the first honor with a competitor of 
maturer years. He then studied the law in Philadelphia, for three years ; 
but, being under the age for admission to the bar, he, in 1804, went to 
Europe, as Secretary to General Armstrong, the United States Minister to 
France. He was present at the coronation of the Emperor Napoleon, in 
Paris. 

At this time, the purchase of Louisiana and the indemnification for injuries 
to American commerce were in progress, and young Biddle, at the age of 
eighteen, managed the details with the veterans of the French bureau, in 
whom his juvenile appearance and precocious ability excited much surprise. 
Leaving the legation, he travelled through the greater part of the Continent 
of Europe ; to liis classical attainments, he there added a thorough mastery 
of the modern languages, which he retained through life. Arriving in Eng- 
land, he became Secretary to Mr. Monroe, then minister at London. An 
anecdote Is told of his delighting Monroe by the exhibition of a knowledge 
of the modern Greek, when, in the company of the English scholars at Cam- 
bridge, some philological question arose relating to the present dialect, with 
Avhich they were unacquainted. 

On his return to America in 1807, he engaged In the practice of the law, 
and devoted a portion of his time to literary pursuits. He became associated 
with Joseph Dennle In the editorship of the Portfolio. In 1811, and wrote 
much for It at dliferent times. His papers on the fine arts, biographical 
sketches, and critical essays were written with great force and elegance, and 
exhibit a discriminating taste. He also penned various literary trifies, and 
wrote occasional verses, with the taste of the scholar and humorist. 

When Lewis and Clark had returned from their explorations, their jour- 
nals and memoranda were placed in the hands of Mr. Biddle, who prepared 
from them, and the oral relation of Clark, the narrative of the expedition, 
and Induced Mr. Jeff"erson to pen the preliminary memoir of Lewis. It was 
simply conducted through the press by Paul Allen, to whom the stipulated 
compensation was liberally transferred, when the political engagements of 
Mr. Biddle withdrew him from further attention to the work. 

He was in the State Legislature in 1810, advocating a system of popular 
education with views in advance of his times. It was not until 1836 that 
the Ideas broached by him were fully carried out by legislative enactment. 
When the question of the renewal of the charter of the old United States 
Bank was discussed In the session of 1811, he advocated the measure in a 
speech, which was widely circulated at the time, and gained the distinguished 
approval of Chief Justice Marshall. 



416 NOTES. 

During the war with England, lie was elected to the State Senate, and 
gave a zealous and powerful support to the measures of the national admini- 
stration for carrying on the contest. He and all of his brothers were now 
engaged in the service of the country — in the public councils, the navy, the 
army, and the militia ; of whom Commodore James Biddle, Major Thomas 
Biddle, and INIajor John Biddle gained particular military reputation. The 
youngest of the brothers, Richard Biddle, during the war a volunteer at 
Camp Dupont, afterwards settled at Pittsburgh, and was for many years an 
acknowledged leader of the bar of that city. He also represented that dis- 
trict in Congress, with great ability. He found leisure for some important 
contributions to literature ; his memoir of Sebastian Cabot lias been justly 
characterized by an eminent critic as "one of the finest monuments of 
American research." 

After the capture of Washington, when an invasion of Pennsylvania was 
expected, Nicholas Biddle, in the Senate, initiated the most vigorous mea- 
sures for the defence of the State. 

Towards the close of the war, he replied to the address of the Hartford 
Convention, by an elaborate report, which was adopted in the Pennsylvania 
Legislature ; a state paper which attracted universal attention, and added 
greatly to the reputation of its author. In the successive elections of 1818 
and 1820, he received a large vote for Congress as the nominee of the Demo- 
cratic party, but was defeated by the Federal candidates. 

In 1819 he became a Government Director of the Bank of the United 
States, on the nomination of President Monroe, who, about the same time, 
assigned to him, under a resolution of Congress, the work of collecting the 
laws and regulations of foreign countries relative to commerce, moneys, 
weights, and measures. These he arranged in an octavo volume, entitled 
" The Commercial Digest." 

In 1823, on the retirement of Mr. Langdon Cheves, Mr. Biddle was elected 
to the presidency of the Bank, and to the conduct of its affairs he thence- 
forth devoted all his energies. For many years the institution was entirely 
disconnected from politics, and furnished to the whole countr}- equal ex- 
changes and a sound and uniform currency, everywhere receivable, and im- 
mediately convertible into specie. Beside the parent bank at Philadelphia, 
twenty-five of its branches were established throughout the Union, and its 
control was everywhere felt by the State banks. Whatever political objec- 
tions may be urged against the existence of a national bank, the eminent 
financial services which it rendered under Mr. Biddle' s administration cannot 
be denied, and that the loss of these services has not since been adequately 
supplied, seems to be amply proved by the subsequent history of the Ameri- 
can banking system. The following view of the subject was taken by the 
Hon. Horace Binncy, in a debate in the House of Representatives in the 
year 1834 : " The Bank of the United States has performed her great offices 
to this people by the concurrence of two peculiarities which belong to her — 
her structure, and her employment in the collection of the public revenue. 



NOTES. 417 

No State banks, by any combination, can effect the required exclianjjes to 
any considerable extent. No Bank of the United States, without tlie aid of 
the public revenue, can etfect them to the extent which the necessities of 
trade require. The structure of the Bank of the United States contributed 
to this operation in a way which every one may comprehend. The whole 
circulation of the United States is employed in effecting the exchange of the 
crop and the merchandise of the country. It is employed in transporting 
the crops to market, and merchandise to the places of its consumption. 

"Now, a national bank, with branches spread over the whole Union, 
knows, from experience and her means of observation, where the amount of 
demand will rise and fall, and at what time these dealings will occur. She 
knows, beforehand, where she may with safety diminish her resources, and 
where she must enlarge them. Wherever her resources are placed for use, 
it is the same thing to the bank — her profit is the same eA'crywhere ; and 
this ability to give them the position which the trade of the country requires, 
is sustained by, and in a great degree dependent upon, her employment as 
the depository of the public revenue. In this character the bank receives 
the revenue, and holds it until the time of disbursement ; and the knowledge 
which her accomplished President and the Board of Directors obtain through 
their relations to the Treasury, and by intimate acquaintance with tl>e fiscal 
operations of the department, enables them to reconcile all the demands of 
the Treasury, with all the demands of trade ; at the same time they preserve 
the whole currency of the country in that due proportion to demand which 

makes it, and which alone makes it sound and invariable 

Sir, the project of the Secretary of the Treasury surprises me — it is the 
clearly avowed design to bring, a second time, upon this land the curse of an 

U7ij-egidated, uncontrolled State bank paper currency 

I should regard that man as one of the greatest benefactors of his country, 
who would devise, for the use of this people, some control over the paper 
currency of the State banks, and relieve us from the perpetual recurrence of 
constitutional doubts and party contention to which the career of a Bank of 
the United States seems, necessarily exposed. Control of some kind is 
essential — it is indispensable ; there can be no property, or what is the same 
thing, no security or uniformity to its value, without it." 

President Jackson, at the commencement of his term of office, declared his 
hostility to a renewal of the charter of the United States Bank. In his first 
message, in 1 829, he called the attention of Congress to the subject, declaring 
"that it could not too soon be presented to their deliberation." It was again 
brought forward in his subsequent messages of 1830 and 1831. Our space 
will not allow us to enter into the details of the political contest which en- 
sued. Mr. Biddle was, by his official position, placed in antagonism with 
his former political associates. In 1832, a bill for the re-charter of the 
Bank passed both houses of Congress, but was vetoed by the President. 
Notwithstanding the hostility of the Government, and of the dominant poli- 
tical party, the Bank maintained its credit throughout the commercial world 
27 



418 NOTES. 

to the last moment of its existence. The charter expired by its h'mitation 
on the 3d March, 1836 ; and here ends the history of the last "Bank of the 
United States." Its name, however, was afterwards borne, with very dif- 
ferent fortunes, by another institution. The stockholders of the late Bank 
received from the Legislature of Pennsylvania a State charter, by an act 
entitled " An Act to repeal the State tax, &c., and to charter a State bank, 
to he called the United States Bank." There was at this time no man 
living who enjoyed a higher reputation as a financier than Nicholas Biddlc. 
He was urgently solicited to accept the Presidency of the new bank. JEIe 
assented, and continued at its head until March, 1839, when he resigned, 
and retired to a country-seat on the river Delaware, called "Andalusia," 
which his wife had inherited from her father. At the time of his resignation, 
the stock of the bank was selling at one hundred and sixteen dollars a share, 
with other indications of soundness and prosperity. Two years afterwards, 
however, it stopped payment, assigned its assets, and was declared to be 
insolvent. Whether this failure was attributable to causes incident to the 
financial condition of the whole country, and the anomalous position of the 
State Bank ; or to measures pursued subsequent to, or during the admini- 
stration of Mr. Biddle, were questions vehemently discussed at the time, 
and which cannot, now, be reviewed within the limits of this sketch. 

The following succinct statement is from a biography of Mr. Biddle, by 
an eminent citizen of Pennsylvania, jmblished in the last edition (1854) of 
the "National Portrait Gallery:" — 

"The 'State bank,' called the 'United States Bank,' began and ended 
its career in a period of general expansion, over-trading, and over-banking. 
When the destruction of the Bank of the United States was decreed, it was 
the system of State banks — not a specie currency — that was put forward as 
the efficient substitute. To the State banks the public treasure was confided, 
and they were made the subjects of continued favor and laudation from the 
President in his messages, the Secretary of the Treasury in his reports, and 
the party presses that echoed the sentiments of the party leaders. The 
'Globe,' the official organ at Washington, teemed with apjieals to the State 
Legislatures to create more banks, and any tardiness in compliance was 
charged — as everything, almost, was charged in those days — to the influence 
of 'Biddle and the United States Bank.' 'The State banks,' said General 
Jackson, ' are found fully adequate to the performance of all sei-vices re- 
quired of the Bank of the United States, quite as promptly, and with the 
same cheapness.' ''By the use of the State banks,' he repeats, in a subse- 
quent message, ' it is ascertained that the moneys of the United States can 
be collected and disbursed without loss or inconvenience, and that all the 
wants of the community in relation to exchange and currency, are supplied 
as well as they have ever been before.' 

"Under such Angorous stimulus the number of banks was more than 
doubled ; the amount of what was termed ' banking capital' more than 
trebled ; the notes of banks in circulation rose from 61,000,000 to 185,000,000 



NOTES. 419 

of dollars ; loans and discounts were increased proportionally. The restrain- 
ing influence once exercised by the Bank of the United States was scoffed 
at as an odious and obsolete oppression; and President Jackson, in an an- 
nual message, congratulated the State banks on the extinction of their 
former 'enemy.' State governments, too, caught the general contagion, 
and issued bonds, contracted debts, and entered upon vast schemes of lavish 
expenditure. In vain were warning voices raised. Daniel Webster declared 
in the Senate, ' We are in danger of being overwhelmed with irredeemable 
paper, mere paper, not representing gold and silver ; no, representing noth- 
ing but broken promises, bad faith, bankrupt corporations, cheated creditors, 
and a ruined people.' Henry Clay predicted tliat, ' There being no longer 
any sentinel at the head of our banking establishment to warn them by its 
information and operation of approaching danger, the local institutions, 
already multiplied to an alarming extent, and almost daily multiplying, in 

seasons of prosperity will make free and unrestrained emissions 

Inordinate speculation will ensue, debts will be freely contracted, and the 
explosion of the whole banking system will be the ultimate effect.' We re- 
cur now to these events not in a captious spirit of censure, but in justice to 
one upon whom it was afterwards sought to chai-ge the consequences of ti 
system which he always combated, against which he openly protested — the 
very opposite of that established and perfected by his efforts, under which 
the country so long enjoyed a sound and uniform currency, based upon and 
always convertible into gold and silver. In the perilous condition of things 
to which we have adverted, the United States Bank of Pennsylvania had 
even more danger to encounter than other State institutions. Its unwieldy 
capital was forced to seek investment in every part of the country, in stocks, 
loans, bonds, and like securities, which, when the crash came, went down, 
and carried the bank down with them. Whether its fate could have been 
averted by Mr. Biddle, if he had continued in the direction of its affairs, we 
do not undertake to decide. He had never been found unequal to any 
crisis ; and his tact, and skill, and fertility in resources might have warded 
off some of the blows that proved most fatal. That his efforts could have 
availed in the later, as they had in the former trials of the bank, can neither 
be certainly affirmed or denied. Speculation upon what might have hap- 
pened, if events had been other than they were, is mostly very fruitless." 

After Mr. Biddle's retirement from the bank, he delivered two addresses 
before the Agricultural Society of Philadelphia County, of which he was the 
President, and discussed some topics of public interest through the press ; 
he earnestly advocated the resumption of payment of the State interest, and 
the admission of Texas to the Union ; but his health was broken, and he 
died on the 27th of February, 1844, of a disease of the heart, aged fifty- 
eight years. He had married, in 1811, the daughter of John Craig, one of 
the old merchants of Philadelphia, eminent for wealth, integrity, and public 
spirit; this lady, whose virtues insured the happiness of his domestic life, 
survived him for some years. His character was marked by great energy 



420 NOTES. 

und resolution. Mr. C. J. Ingersoll, a political opponent on the bank ques- 
tion, in his sketch of the late war, says: "Nicholas Biddle was as iron- 
nerved as his fjreat antagonist, Andrew Jackson, loved his country not less, 
and money as little." His manner was peculiarly attractive; it was not a 
display of artificial graces, but the natural expression of a genial nature and 
cultivated mind, and it had a powerful influence over those with whom he 
was associated. In youth, the beauty of his person was remai-kable, and 
time dealt gently with it; he was fond of exercise on foot and on horseback, 
and though hospitable, his personal habits were simple and abstemious. He 
was a leading member of many societies and public institutions for useful 
and benevolent purposes, and his private charities and benefactions were as 
liberal as they were unostentatious. He was an ardent advocate of the im- 
provement of his native State, and aided in the prosecution of the most im- 
portant public enterprises. The Hon. Wm. F. Packer (now the Governor 
of Pennsylvania), in a speech in the State Senate, advocating the connection 
of Philadelphia with the Lakes, said: "This, sir, was the favorite project 
of Nicholas Biddle, of your city ; and whatever may be said of him as a 
politician or a financier, all agree that on questions of internal improvement 
and commerce, he was one of the most sagacious and far-seeing statesmen in 
this Union. His fault was, if fault it be, that he was twenty years in ad- 
vance of the age in which he lived. Sir, his towering mind enabled him 
afar off to 

' See the tops of. distant thoug-hts, 

Which men of common stature never saw.' 

Had he lived and maintained the strong hold which he once had on the 
affections of Philadelphia, that city would long since have been placed, in 
relation to the trade 1 have attempted to describe, where New York and 
Boston now are." 

His taste was formed upon the classic models with which his studies and 
travels had rendered him familiar; to it the city owes two of the finest 
specimens of Grecian architecture — the United States Custom-House (form- 
erly the United States Bank), and the Girard College — the plans for which 
were adopted at his instance. He delivered many speeches and addresses, 
and his style was remarkable for purity, terseness, and vigor. — Simpsoti's 
Eminent Philadelphians. 



NOTE H. (Pages 350 and 390.) 

Clement and Owen Biddle, sons of John Biddle and Sarah Owen, were 
first cousins of Charles Biddle. Of Owen, the elder brother, the following 
sketch is taken from the Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, vol. iii. 

Owen Biddle, of the city of Philadelphia, a great-grandson of William 



NOTES. 421 

Biddle, one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and for many years of the 
Governor's Council of tliat Colony, was born in Philadelphia in the year 
1737. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and with his brother, 
Clement, signed the celebrated Non-importation Resolutions of October 25, 
1765. He was a delegate to the Provincial Conference Jan. 23, 1775; 
member of the Committee of Safety from June 30, 1775, to July 22, 1776, 
and of the Council of Safety from July 24, 1776, to March 13, 1777 ; mem- 
ber of the Board of War March 13, 1777 ; of the Constitutional Convention 
of July 15, 1776, and, in June, 1777, Deputy Commissary of Forage. 
His name appears in the list of Philadelphia merchants headed by Robert 
Morris, who became personally bound for various sums, amounting in the 
aggregate to over £200,000 sterling, for purchasing j^rovisions for the army 
at a time when there was great difficulty in procuring supplies. During the 
occupancy of Philadelphia by the British, the enemy destroyed his residence, 
(Peel Hall) which was on the site of the Girard College grounds. 

He was an early and active member of the American Philosophical 
Society, one of its curators from 1769 to 1772, and secretary from 1773 to 
1782, when he became one of the councillors, continuing as such until his 
death. He was one of the committee of thirteen appointed by the Society 
to observe the transit of Venus on 3d of June, 1769. These obsej-vations 
were made with eminent success by three members of the committee, Mr. 
Rittenhouse being stationed at Norristown, Dr. Ewing at Philadelphia, and 
Mr. Biddle at Cape Henlopen. Mr. Biddle died at Philadelphia on the lOthi 
of March, 1799. His descendants have always taken a prominent part in 
the benevolent and business enterprises of the metropolis. 



Clement Biddle was born in Philadelphia, May 10-, 1740. Descended 
from one of the early Quaker settlers and proprietaries of AVest Jersey, he 
retained his connection with the Society of Friends until the commencement 
of the War of Independence. 

In early life he engaged in commercial pursuits in his native city. Not- 
withstanding the discipline of the religious society in whose tenets he had 
been educated, he united, in 1764, in forming a military corps for the pro- 
tection of a party of friendly Indians, who had sought refuge in Philadelphia 
from the fury of a lawless band, known as the Paxton Boys, who had re- 
cently massacred some unoffending Conestoga Indians, at Lancaster. These 
banditti, powerful in numbers, had advanced to within five or six miles of 
the city, threatening destruction to all who should oppose them, when the 
vigor of the military preparations checked their further progress. Scarcely 
had this local disturbance been quieted, when news was received of the re- 
solution of the British House of Commons to impose certain stamp duties on 
the colonies. The feeling engendered throughout the whole country by this 
step, was nowhere deeper than in Philadelphia ; and the consummation of 
the resolve of the Commons, by the passage of the Stamp Act, induced, in 



422 NOTES. 

that city, the celebrated non-importation resolutions of October 25, 1765; 
one of the most decided measures adopted during the early part of the 
struggle with Great Britain, for the preservation of the civil rights of the 
colonists. Tliis agreement was subscribed by the principal merchants of the 
city ; among them we find the names of Clement Biddle and his brother 
Owen Biddle. The course subsequently pursued by the British Govern- 
ment destroying all hope of a peaceful adjustment, Clement Biddle em- 
barked early and zealously in the defence of the liberties of America, and 
was greatly instrumental in forming the " Quaker" company of volunteers, 
raised in Philadelphia in 1775, of which he was elected an officer, before the 
corps joined the army. Congress having, in June, 1776, for the protection 
of the middle colonies, directed the immediate establishment of a camp of 
ten thousand men, to be furnished by Pennsylvania, ]\Iai'3'land, and Dela- 
ware, on the 8th of July following, appointed Colonel Biddle the Deputy 
Quartermaster-General for those forces, as well as for the militia of Penn- 
sylvania and New Jersey, ordered to assemble at Trenton. At the close of 
that year, Colonel Biddle took part in the battle of Trenton, and with an- 
other officer, was selected by Washington to receive the swords of the Hes- 
sian officers. He was also engaged in the stoutly-contested victory at Prince- 
ton ; the battle at and retreat from the Brandywine ; the attack upon the 
British forces at Germantown ; and during the winter of 1777-8 shared the 
privations of the American army at the memorable cantonment at Valley 
Forge. There, as Commissary-General under Greene, he rendered import- 
ant services in several critical junctures, when the disbanding of the army, 
from want of the necessaries of life, seemed almost inevitable. Many letters 
from General Washington, written at this period, and now in the possession 
of Colonel Biddle's family, attest his activity in the commissariat depart- 
ment, the urgency of the sei'vice he was engaged in, and the confidence re- 
posed in him by the father of his country. He was again in action at the 
battle of Monmouth. 

After the war of the Revolution, he renewed, for a short time, his con- 
nection with military life, by serving as Quartermaster-General of Pennsyl- 
vania in the expedition, under Washington, to suppress the " AVhiskey 
Insurrection." 

Colonel Biddle la>''>»'ed earnestly in the early political movements of the 
patriot party of hi , advocating effectively the revolutionary State Con- 

stitution of ] 776, 1 .aming of which his brother, Owen Biddle, shared, as 

a member of the Convention. After the organization of the Federal Govern- 
ment, under the Constitution of 1787, Colonel Biddle was appointed United 
States Marshal for Pennsylvania. At a later period he engaged in business 
as a notary public, and became well known in commercial circles for his 
ability in adjusting marine losses. He preserved the friendship and enjoyed 
the intimacy of General Washington until the close of the life of that great 
man, and maintained with him a familiar epistolary correspondence until 
within a few weeks of the General's decease. 



NOTES. ■ 423 

Greene and Knox were also his warm personal friends and coiTespondents ; 
and when the former was selected for the command of the southern army, 
one of his first preparations for the campaign, was an effort to obtain the 
services of Colonel Biddle as Qiiartermastei'-General. By his marriage with 
Miss Rebecca Cornell, he had a numerous family. His sons have occupied 
prominent and honorable positions in their native city ; of his daughters, 
one was married to General Thomas Cadwalader, another to Dr. Nathaniel 
Chapman, and a third to Thomas Dunlap, Esq., of Philadelphia. 

His distinguished and useful career ended on the 14th July, 1814, at 
Philadelphia, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. — Sinqyson's Eminent 
Philadelphians. 



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